The Game
by LazyKiss
Summary: The council has decided to play God. Stranded in a situation between love and duty, he was in a predicament. Will he let go or hold on? It is not an easy decision; a hard game to play, especially when the pink haired medic is oblivious to his feelings. A Shikamaru/Sakura fic. Previously known as The Healing. HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

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_This story (like all my others) is not beta-ed. I am terribly sorry for any mistake I'm sure you'll likely find in my new fic. Enjoy._

_August 23 2012 : Re-edited. I seriously don't like how this chapter turned out so I just retouched the chapter a little bit. You might find something different (maybe none at all) but rest be assured the story line will remain the same._

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Enough said.**

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**Recovery**

A knock on the door halted the movement of a pair of brilliant green eyes darting back and forth reading a medical text eagerly. She sighed and straightened, tucking a strand of pastel pink hair behind her ears and granted entrance permission to the knocker.

"Haruno-san, your patient is waiting for you in room 1002. Here is his recent data." A young helper informed as she handed the pink haired medic-nin a brown clipboard with medical information of said patient. After a nod from her superior, she exited the small white office to continue with her work at the counter.

Soft matured face cast a longing look towards the medical text before forcing her attention to the clipboard. Dr Haruno shook her head as she analysed the data. Her disapproving eyes quickly scan through the whole page with a frown on her face. Her patient hasn't been doing well, a stagnant recovery, and she knew of the cause though the reason why was beyond her. For a person like him, it was hard to guess why he would prefer to stay in the hospital rather than getting out of the bleach white building like every other sane people would. He even prevented himself from doing the only thing that will get him out!

With a huff, she got off her chair and put on her white coat, a name tag _"Haruno, Sakura. Level 4, Medical Specialist"_ pinned on the right chest of the coat symbolising her authority. She grabbed the kunai from the holster on her left thigh and slammed it into the drawer before stalking off to room 1002 feeling the agitation coursing through her body. Bringing a weapon with her would prove violent should she feel the need to withdraw it and stab her annoying patient. Not that it would be fatal. She would just heal him back again and prolong his stay, as he had been adamant to do so in the first place.

A fellow medic-nin greeted her but recoiled when he saw the angry look upon her face and a male patient who was usually on good terms with the skilled medic quickly ran to his side of the hospital when she threw a dangerous look to him seeing him out of his bed. As she rounded the corner, she saw Naruto talking to a blushing Hinata. When he noticed her, he waved and said,

"Hey, Sakura-chan. What's up?"

"Nara."

She replied curtly and continued to march towards her destination. When she stopped in front of the room's door, she distinctly heard Naruto said,

"Oh, he's definitely screwed this time."

She grabbed the sanitized door handle and violently twisted it open revealing a very bored handsome ninja lying on a bed with the sheets barely covering his bandaged torso looking outside the window to the cloudless sky showing his strong profile. She admits the sight would've probably melted some of the female's heart, or perhaps a majority given his rank in Konoha but Sakura had seen it so many times it was almost neutral to her except the few times she feels like throttling him. With big angry strides, she moved to the end of the bed glaring at the Jounin in front of her. The head supporting a pineapple-like hairstyle turned from the window to look at her. His deep black eyes stared lazily at the furious woman in front of him completely oblivious to her rage. Either that or he was just too lazy to care. The angry kunoichi immediately notice the untouched cups of pills and liquid medicine on the bedside. Her glare intensified.

"Hey," greeted Shikamaru.

"Don't you _'hey'_ me. How dare you pull this stunt… again!" Sakura exclaimed with her hands on her hips, her body bending slightly towards the shadow user.

"Free me then."

"I can't! You're not well enough!"

Shikamaru grunted and pushed his body up into a sitting position. He doubled over in pain when the familiar ache shot up to his lower torso. Despite her rage, Sakura's medical instinct immediately kicked into gear; rushing to help Shikamaru and tend to the wound. It was a deep gash on his right side of the body trailing from the midsection of the waist to the centre of the stomach. She placed her palm carefully on the wound and gently flowed her chakra into it stitching the slightly torn muscle inside. She heard Shikamaru grumbled something that sounded terribly like 'troublesome'.

"Well, it wouldn't be if you took the medicine like I told you."

Shikamaru shot her a look of pure annoyance.

"This is the fifth time this week. You know this wound won't heal without the pills I subscribed to you. My healing chakra can only do much. The bacteria need to be eliminated with antibiotic to avoid infection. You do know how dangerous infections are, don't you?"

Shikamaru nodded looking slightly dazed. When she pulled away, he shook his head and muttered something incoherent. She knew he was having the intoxicated feeling any patient would've had when someone poured a special brand of healing chakra into his or her body. It is a calming effect to avert the focus on pain not many medics even in the most advanced village like Konoha could apply in their healing skills. In the Fire hidden village, only a small group of medic-nin knew this technique which includes Lady Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura and a few other higher ranking medics.

Sakura then proceeded to pull off the dirty bandages and hustled to the cupboard in the corner to grab another fresh roll, a small basin, and a towel. She went to the bathroom and filled the basin with warm water and returned to Shikamaru's side preparing to clean his slightly dirty wound that was covered with dry blood and antiseptic cream. She dipped the towel into the basin and squeezed the excess away before gently wiping Shikamaru's body covered with dried blood. She had done this so many times she didn't bother to request permission to touch him. Careful not to apply pressure on the big ugly gash, she wiped away the dry flaky blood and other impurities. After that, she applied the same antiseptic cream like before on the wound. She finished off with the bandage, wrapping it around Shikamaru securely. When her arms went around him pulling her body close to his, a light blush adorned his still face but she was too busy to notice that.

She then stepped away from the bed and proceeded to clear the things away. A nurse entered the room and placed a tray of medicine (antibiotics, energy pill and a special healing mushroom extract) on the bedside much to the shadow user's dismay. After saying her thanks to the nurse, Sakura took the medicines and mercilessly shoved them down Shikamaru's throat before he could protest. He downed a whole glass of water desperately to avoid choking.

"Gah! What the hell, Sakura!" Shikamaru spluttered after tasting the horrible medicine.

"20 and still not used to the taste of medicine. Really, Shikamaru?"

"What a drag."

Sakura rolled her eyes when she heard his favourite phrase rolled out from his mouth. She wrote something on the clipboard she had and on the one hanging from Shikamaru's bed.

"When can I leave?" questioned Shikamaru.

"At this rate, 2 weeks maybe."

"Okay."

Sakura raised her eyebrows at the man lying on the bed.

"What, no protest or anything?"

He just shrugged with a nonchalant look on his face. However, it seemed unnatural, somewhat forced. Actually, he was relaxed… _too relaxed _for someone who had just eaten an energy pill_._ His dilated pupils focused on a distant object across the room and his face muscle a bit tense while his shoulders slumped too low. These could be hard to pick up by any other shinobi but Sakura was a well-trained Chuunin and spent half her life with Tsunade and Kakashi, who were really good at faking body languages, so it was easy to detect the simple gesture Shikamaru was showing.

It was perhaps more easier to detect the body language because she had been around Shikamaru more than usual for 4 years now. He kept getting in and out from the hospital after his dangerous missions. He was after all, working his way into ANBU so it was expected. In fact, when he came in, she would be the one personally assigned by the Hokage to look after one of the most valuable assets of Leaf Village. No one suits better for the job other than her own apprentice, Sakura. However, as much as she knows his bodily functions, habits and receptions, she barely knows him like a bestfriend knows a bestfriend. They hang out a lot but rarely talks to each other on personal terms. It was more like a group thing when it was with them both joining in others banters and jokes.

"Why won't you eat the medicine Shikamaru?"

"It tastes bad."

"The energy pill is made out of sugar."

"Sugar is bad."

"The antibiotic tastes like cherries."

"I hate cherries."

"But I love cherries!"

"Troublesome woman."

His comment earned a poke into his side. He wasn't ticklish or anything but it was unexpected so he moved to avoid it in reflex and hissed when the pressure made him feel the pain on his side. Sakura ignored him and observed him with great concern.

She knew something was bothering him and it's surely was not because of the medication. There was something holding him here. She didn't want to assume anything but Shikamaru was showing signs of trauma and he was using excuses to stay in the hospital rather than getting out of it. The odd thing was he demanded to be discharged at every opportunity but at the same time he was purposely letting his condition unfit to fulfil the requirements. He was initially progressing fine on the first few days after his arrival from his last mission but after a visit from an ANBU for his reports, he stopped taking his medications resulting to slow healing process and he had a lot of injuries on his part top begin with. All the smaller injuries were now cured but the major wound on his body remained unhealed. The wound kept opening up even with chakra binding and his refusal to assist the healing with medicine held up the healing process. All of his teammates received similar type of wound but theirs healed quite quickly and was out just after a week or so. Shikamaru, however, was still here. This went unnoticed by Sakura since she was her personal medic after all. She even inquired him about it but all he ever said was,

_"Medicine sucks."_

That excuse seemed out of his character so it really was befuddling.

Did something happen that she didn't know about? Well, if that's the case she's missing out by a lot. She's not exactly on the same level with him by ranks and their area of specialist rarely intercept with each other so grey is the shade (apart from him coming to her whenever he's knocked out and injured obviously). But of course, being Tsunade's disciple she knew a lot of Konoha's affairs. She knew it was an S-rank mission; his first to be exact. But to be scared and traumatized by an event seems uncharacteristic of him. Even after Asuma's death, he was able to cope with it and she knew how strong the bond was between them both.

Plus, he had dealt with very terrible stuff in the past it just doesn't add up for him to suddenly change. Kakashi was on his group for the mission too and he didn't show any similar sign Shikamaru was having, nor did the rest of the group for that matter. They did return home with fatal injuries but no mental affected harm so it proves that something else was really bothering him. Maybe he failed… no… she remembered when he failed to bring Sasuke back and he accepted it well and whole that it was his mistake as team captain. Why would this failure be any different? Shikamaru was a very strong shinobi, both mentally and physically.

She could be assuming things though. She had a discussion with Shizune and according to her; it wasn't trauma Shikamaru is experiencing. It's an internal conflict that affects his act and health. That could be it. Or maybe he was just scared to go home and face the wrath of his mother. Who knows?

"What happened?"

The question slipped before she could contain herself. She dropped her hand to her side, one hand on her hips. Shikamaru seemed to be waiting for this question. He was always 5 or more steps ahead. He turned his face away from Sakura showing his manly profile. A serious look crawled upon his features and it looked very attractive but Sakura had other things on her mind that she didn't bother to dwell on the thought longer than necessary.

"It's classified information, Sakura."

"I don't mean the mission details and whatnot. I meant you. I know something's bothering you. Maybe I can help."

"Thanks but I don't think you can."

"Sure, I can."

"Heh. Not too troublesome for you?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head. She sat on the chair next to his bed and waited patiently for him to start talking. Her curiosity burning more and more at the knowing look he sent her way.

"What do you like about clouds, Sakura?"

Ah, damn. He was getting all philosophical on her. It's not the first time he's like this. Last time they were at a bar talking about their latest missions, he brought up a subject about relationships. Well at least she thought it was. She was at a bar getting drunk so some parts of the conversation may slip from her mind. She vaguely remembered him saying something like, _"For when two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting, and when friends are far apart there are no separations."_(1) Then she passed out. The second being at the bridge after her training session where she was too tired to listen to what he said while Naruto and Sai was in the background fighting over the size of the blonde's thingymagie though she did recall it being something related to the colour of the sky. Odd isn't it?

"Umm…. It's calming?"

Shikamaru chuckled.

"Other than that?"

"It's… umm… like cotton candies… white cotton candies!"

A small smile replaced the serious look on his face. He has always known she like sweet things but he asked anyway.

"Do you like cotton candies then?"

"Yes."

"What do you like about them?"

"It's sweet and when you eat it, it melts in your mouth. I love sweet things."

"I noticed." Shikamaru commented.

"What about you? Why do you like clouds so much?"

He shrugged. He knew the answers of course but he just couldn't really tell her in words. It wasn't something obvious like 'calming' or 'have cool shapes' or anything. It was in fact the stories behind it. To him, the clouds represent his life. When it's calm and clear, he moves slowly in a safe pace taking his time without a care in the world. It was a moment where nothing better could ever interrupt his peaceful life. With a genius mind like his, he finds solitude with the mere presence of the singing wind, the soft grass mattress and the simple clouds in the air to take his busy mind away from the conflict, strategies and work he constantly find himself in.

"I remember when we were genins, I would try to bust you for sleeping in class."

Sakura steered down memory lane. She wanted to make him feel better. Her instincts tell her that her patient might be suffering from depression caused by the workload and burden on his tired shoulders. She knew the reason why he brought up the clouds. He hides himself by being lazy and cloud watching as a way of relaxation. It hinted that he wanted that now but the sky lack of his anti-depressant. Shikamaru laughed quietly when he remembered.

"You were such a pain. _Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei! Shikamaru is sleeping again_!" He mimicked her in a very high girly voice. Sakura laughed and shook her head slightly.

"I swear there was not a moment of peace when we were together in class."

"Oh, come on! I helped you with your chakra training, didn't I?"

"I never recall asking you for any."

"I was trying to be nice."

"And I was trying to sleep."

Sakura wrinkled her nose rather cutely. It was funny, yes, but his laziness pulled a string in her.

"Thank god Uchiha was there though. At least he took your attention away from me. Well, he took the entire female population's attention away actually."

Sakura smirked.

"Jealous?"

"Believe it or not, it was a blessing."

True, thought Sakura. He never seems to like attention. He mostly tried to stay away from the spotlight even at the present time. His words never really catch people's attention because all he ever said, as she remembers, was 'troublesome', 'what a drag' and other similar sentences. Only now that he had grown and recognized as a strong shinobi people tend to listen rather than ignore his lazy drawls. He makes people think. Even a simple word from him can make Naruto sit and try to use his brain. The man usually exuded an air of casualness and nonchalance. He was definitely the most laid-back person she'd ever met… and also the laziest.

Sakura was about to say something but a knock came from the door. They both turned their attention to a man clad in black uniform wearing a fox mask to hide his face only showing his mysterious blank eyes. They both noticed the ANBU emblem tattooed on his left shoulder blade immediately.

"I am here on orders from the Hokage to talk to Shikamaru Nara."

She saw Shikamaru tensed from the corner of her eyes. Her earlier thoughts reassembled in her mind. Sakura felt sorry for him. Maybe it was just another report, she knew he hated reports. Not wanting to intrude, as if she could anyway, she stood up and said,

"I'll excuse myself then."

"Wait, Sakura."

She turned and smiled reassuringly at Shikamaru.

"I'll be back later with more medicine."

He grimaced but nodded and watched the tough but slim figure of hers walked out of the room as he braced himself for the news he knew the ANBU will deliver.

And it wasn't going to be good.

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**Author's Note:**

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_(1) The 'philosophy thingy' from Shikamaru is actually a quote from Simone Weil._

_This was supposed to be a one-shot but something happened in my mind and now we're looking for a few more chapters before the story is truly finished. I apologize. Truth to be told, I'm not sure if I can give a fast update because finals are coming soon... and by soon I meant next week._

_So please stay with me people. Read and review! Your insights mean a lot and your nice and wonderful comment feeds my writer soul. Smiles._

**Kissa**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

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_To all the grammar Nazis out there, I'm sorry. I didn't have anyone to beta my story so there will be mistakes here and there. And in case there are any misunderstanding and confusion while reading my story, I would like to inform you that this story does not follow any particular Arc in the anime. I stopped following Naruto up until ten chapters into the Shippuden and then I skipped a lot and ended up just reading the summary of the recent episodes. So this is what I imagined ONLY. Thank you and enjoy!_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

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**Bad Situation**

"_Abort! I repeat, abort!" _

"_No. We've come this far. I'm not giving up now!"_

"_Damn it, Uzumaki! Pull back!"_

_Loud static hissed in the team captain's ears ending the line from the fox-like ninja's end. He cursed realizing his communication line to Naruto had been terminated so he immediately switched the connection of his communicator to the other members of the squad seeking for more information on the sudden chaotic situation as he leaped from branch to branch, two of his men in tow. He growled a name and a cry responded._

"_Captain? We're trapped!"_

_Recognizing trouble when he heard a loud explosion of metal clashing against metal, he held up his hand as a sign to stop. He turned ready to give a simple order to the two men. An older ninja, face and body drenched in blood, shook his head in an instant clearly terrified to return back to the bloody scene. He was supporting his teammate, a fresh Jounin a few years below him. His state was not good either for another battle. He was breathing heavily through his broken nose. The skin on his left arm was burnt showing black-red flesh while a slash from a heavy weapon spread across his stomach. One hit and his life is over. With a quick calculation, he ordered both of his men to race back to the village requesting immediate backup. He spun on his heel and growled into his communicator,_

"_Hold on, I'm coming."_

"_Hurry, our medic's out!"_

_He pumped chakra into his feet and dashed through the forest shouting instructions into his mouthpiece. When he arrived at the scene, his intelligent brown eyes scanned the area and quickly rushed to aid the struggling female Jounin. Using his famous Shadow Sewing Technique, he attacked harshly saving the kunoichi from the fatal attack the enemy was about to launch. The shadows crept up the enemy's leg and tightened preventing him from moving. Another shadow sprung and jabbed into his body repeatedly creating severe injury. The loud explosion behind Shikamaru drowned the scream of the enemy-nin. When the man was knocked unconscious, he ordered the kunoichi to retrieve their injured comrade and head out to a safe clearing. _

"_But, Naruto-san…"_

_Sensing her worries, he nodded._

"_He'll be fine. Where's Hatake?"_

"_He was chasing after Naruto."_

"_Troublesome. Defence formation. The clearing. 2 miles. Wait for backup there and try to get that drag of a medic up."_

_Without a word, the kunoichi left the scene carrying the fainted medic-nin. Shikamaru knew they were in big trouble. The medic wasn't supposed to be knocked out now in the heat of the battle especially when it's a 3 sided fight. He knew their opponent was formidable based on their attacking strategies. Attack the supports before the main. It was a rare offense with great skills and stealth. Their only way out depends on their diversion skills. _

_The situation was really bad._

_Something orange flew above his head and hit a large tree behind him. Wasting no time he planted explosive kunai with strings everywhere creating a wall in front of him. He grabbed Naruto by the collar and fled. The blonde of course yelled that he wanted to fight more but Shikamaru told him if they didn't move they will die. Not long after another horrendous explosion erupted behind them. The blow threw them off balance causing them to fall from the trees onto the ground. Shikamaru grunted trying to lift himself off of the ground but a big sword famously known as the Samehada settled just behind his neck. He froze immediately._

"_Gotcha. Nice fireworks by the way."_

_What a drag._

* * *

Shikamaru was being reprimanded by the head of the village in the most troublesome way he had ever experienced. The Hokage was too busy with the council she didn't have time to personally come and kick his ass so she sluggishly wrote her speech in a scroll and ordered someone to deliver it to him. The ANBU himself agreed that it was ridiculous. Nonetheless he carried out his duty and droned on and on about Shikamaru's last mission as well as his recovering speed. She had specifically capitalized and bolded the part where she said she will shave his head and dress him as a woman for the entire year if he was not out of the hospital in a week. After the ANBU finished her speech, he burnt the scroll.

"Have you decided Nara-san?"

"Fine, I'll get my ass out of here in a week." He replied slightly annoyed.

"I meant the mission. Unless you have forgotten what the council had-"

"I know." He darkly cuts the ANBU's sentence. This was the bad part he had been waiting for.

"Then I suggest you waste no more time. We know that you are stalling and the council does not appreciate it."

The council… Yes, of course. They were the voice behind the power of the Leaf, the voice behind the political feud and banters and the voice behind the Shinobi Wars. It had been decades since the council made any big decisions for Konoha but now that the Akatsuki is on the move, they seem to be eager to play in the waters again especially when the Feudal Lords are involved. They were playing God again. Konoha is in a risky situation and is in great need of reinforcement. The Sand alone is not enough. The council had thought so too. They created more allies but had deployed a couple of troops beforehand. They decided to go by attacking from the root by infiltrating Akatsuki's hideouts and eliminating the members before any big war ensued. They had informants telling them Akatsuki had widened their influence to some parts of the Fire countries and allies. They didn't accept the news well at all.

Furthermore, the fact that the Akatsuki's Bingo book had been updated caused a big uproar amongst them. Half of the target was from Konoha; most from strong, old and respected clan. Shikamaru was displeased when he found out a certain pink haired was an S-rank in the book too despite coming from an ordinary family. It must be because of her eliminating an Akatsuki member (Sasori) and her connections with influential higher ranking officers of Konoha as well as the Jinchuuriki vessel himself with her abilities from the Hokage as a bonus. Shikamaru himself was an S-rank in the Bingo book but he didn't care.

This information was top secret and the only reason why Shikamaru knew was because he had helped alongside his father and a few other clan members to strategize the protection of the village. They had doubt that the mission led by Shikamaru would be successful but the council had foolishly insisted that they go with the plan. The dumbest decision was to bring Naruto along but the council believed he would be a good diversion while the rest of the group would discover the entrance of the hideouts. Plus, they were hoping Naruto's Sage mode would be useful.

The mission was simple. Enter, locate and return. However, they weren't expecting company from the Sound Village who had similar mission and it caused both team to collide and fight alerting the Akatsuki and dragging them into the battle. The backup came 2 hours later once the fight was already finished. Kisame had managed to land a critical hit on Shikamaru and was about to go for the kill. Shikamaru was strong, yes, but not against both Itachi and Kisame. It was a suicidal fight but luckily for him, Itachi had to be somewhere else so the fight was cut short. The medic team found him later on the cold ground. None of the Sound's ninja had survived. Shikamaru's squad was very lucky indeed.

When he woke up staring into the face of a concerned Sakura, he knew he was in heaven but the wails of his female childhood friend, Ino, pulled him out of his stupor. He came to knowledge that the Haruno had collapsed from chakra depletion trying to save him from death. He was thankful and showed his gratitude with a simple thank you and a nod. He spent one whole night convincing himself it was a professional thing to do.

"How much time do I have left?" Shikamaru enquired.

"3 days for a response and a month for preparation. You better decide quickly. The team has formed and they are training. Only you, Neji-san and Kakashi-san hasn't decided."

"Should I decline the job, what would happen?" Shikamaru tested the water.

"We both know your words are only for the official document. The council would still throw you in." The masked ANBU pointed out the obvious fact.

"Troublesome."

"That's the council for you."

"Yeah, a bunch of old-"

"Nara-san, I am in my official uniform." The ANBU warned.

"Err... right… sorry." He apologized scratching his back head.

"Now remember; your response, 3 days. I'm out."

"See ya, Sai."

Once the ANBU had left the room, the brown pineapple headed man laid down thinking about the upcoming shinobi war. It will be the sixth one in the history. It wasn't something the Hokage or any other Kages had announced but they knew. The ninja world knew another devastating catastrophe was coming. What they didn't know was that Akatsuki had gotten stronger and has forces beyond their imagination and with the council being so reckless and selfish, it's not looking good at all.

The wind was not in their favour this second time around. As a member of Nara, the biggest clan involved with tactical and assassination of Konoha, Shikamaru was fully aware of Konoha's grave situation. There were ways to combat this conflict and stop the war before it even began and the Special Squad was the answer. It is a squad comprising of ANBU's finest and excellent as the hidden front line with half of the Konoha 11 in it.

That was what bothers him the most. He may think in the line of the greater good but he still cares for his comrades of the same year. They were close. They were the iconic figure of Konoha. It would be a great loss if one of them crumbles to the ground. Even the betrayal of Sasuke many years ago had impacted them greatly until this day, especially Sakura.

Feh.

Here it goes again. Another round of constant worrying of the pink haired ninja that it became distracting. Why does he spend so much time thinking about Sakura's wellbeing anyway? He knew the answer of course. It had been approximately 4 years since he had been under Sakura's care. They had worked alongside in labs and offices and even poses as newlyweds on an A-rank mission over the past years. They grew close. They were even dubbed the new "Asuma and Kurenai" in the village though they both just laugh it off. They were not that intimate in the first place but close nonetheless, to him anyway. Sakura may be oblivious to his well covered feelings but the it is there waiting to be ignited. In one way or the other, the title rubbed in on him and he actually gives an effort to make Sakura safer than she already was. He cares about her. She was more than just a comrade. She was a friend. She was in his life and he's not going to let the same ache he felt when his sensei died conquer his heart.

Never again.

* * *

"Tenten, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, why not."

"I heard about the engagement."

The young woman in buns felt her heart skipped a beat in a very worrisome way. She sighed and gently placed the kunai she was sharpening in the neat arrangement of various weapons. She closed her eyes and prompted,

"…and?"

"I am against it."

She opened her eyes and took another kunai, sharpening it. She arranged her composure calmly and replied,

"Glad to know."

The man frowned. His pale white eyes stared sadly at his teammate. He noticed the quiver in her voice and knew she was trying to keep herself from falling to pieces. She wasn't the type to control her emotions well so he was surprised to see her pulling such a feat but he knew it was only for the temporary. She would soon start to cry and he hated it. Neji Hyuuga hated it when his friend cries.

"Tenten, I…"

"It's alright Neji-kun. It's for the sake of Konoha."

She hid behind her smile. It pained him to see her like that. She never hides from anything and now… she changed. The burden the council had placed on her shoulders took everything away from her, everything away from _him._ He loves his teammate but never had dwell on the emotion for he was now the head of the Hyuuga branch clan and had many tasks in hand. He had been too busy for years he wasn't able to let his feelings for Tenten develop.

They were training one day when an ANBU pulled her away and gave her a scroll. He observed from a distance and saw how she dropped to her knees with an unbelievable expression on her pretty face. Lee had seen it too and immediately raced to her, concerned. He saw Lee took the scroll and read it. His expression darkened considerably. He turned to Tenten and embraced her tightly. They both were crying when he reached them. She looked at him sadly, tears flowing from her brown eyes. Before he could ask what was wrong she pulled out of Lee's arms and ran to the village leaving all her scrolls behind except for the scroll message she received. Lee told him through coughs and hiccups that she was signed for a marriage to a Feudal Lord from one of the countries in the Land of Lightning to strengthen the alliance.

Ever since, he never had the time to see her because she along with Lee and one of the elders always travels back and forth from Fire country to Lightning country for the meetings regarding the marriage and treaty. Tenten, of course had no choice. She came from a normal ninja family so she had no power to defy the council. The only reason she was chosen was because the Feudal Lord had saw her fight during her Jounin exam and had taken interest in her ever since. The fact that she was also considered as a weapon master, a profession the Lightning people recently highly takes interest on, made her the best candidate to seal the treaty between the two countries in order to prepare for the upcoming war.

He had been thinking this through, if Tenten wasn't going to fight it, he will. After some probing and researching, he found out a few more marriage contracts will be signed. He had to stop the council now. He had to stop this line of old emotionless elders from running this country without thinking about its people. But in order to do so, he needed help from others he knew will suffer from the same consequences. Bidding his farewell, he left Tenten to deal with her emotions and rush to the a meeting spot where a Tokubetsu Jounin (1) was waiting.

"Ahh, Hyuuga-san. This is classified information. I-"

Noticing the dark look on Neji's face, Aoba Yamashiro panicked.

"Sigh... All right, all right. But you didn't hear it from me, yeah?"

Neji nodded.

"It's... well... Haruno Sakura. Words were that the Earth Daimyo's son is interested. For the sake of his country of course."

"And the council?"

"-is considering. Since the Earth is already on our side, it seems pointless to trade our best kunoichi with them. Furthermore, Kirigakure has been much more of a pain lately. Marriage contract isn't their thing but they do need more medics amongst them. Maybe she'll be transported there."

"How long?" Neji inquired.

"I'm guessing... 5 years the least. She's a hot demand for medic tutoring."

"No catch?"

"Heh. Everything's with a catch Hyuuga-san. She's an S-rank in the B-Book. Akatsuki is on her tail. She will likely be the bait to lure them in."

Neji saw the plan that instant. Sakura was attached to Naruto. If anything happens to her will automatically drag the Jinchuuriki in. She serves more than one purpose in this plan. The builder and the bait. She could work with Kirigakure and when the time comes, shove her, attract the red clouds and the battle starts with them having the upper hand.

"Problem is, they wouldn't want to risk the treaty now would they?"

Neji nodded in agreement. Aoba continued,

"And to be frank, I don't think Lady Tsunade would just agree with a nod and a smile."

"Of course not. Sakura is like her own daughter."

"I know. Well, is there anything else?"

"How's the council?"

Aoba shook his head disappointedly.

"Very bad. They have a lot of power since the 4th shinobi war. It wasn't wise to give the power to them in the first place but peace came with it."

The council consist of the Fire Nation Elders from all states and countries. They were deemed wise and all-knowing but recently, they had been reckless. The last war with Akatsuki was in their favour, so they thought it will be the same. Furthermore, they don't trust the younger shinobi world. They prefer to flow the country back to how to it used to be ruled. It was positive at first but it didn't suit this era; politically, economically and socially. The fact that they were protected covers their already blind eyes from the open hazard that are threatening the people. Someone needs to set this senile council straight but thanks to the treaty, they will have the veto power for another 5 years. By the time that ends, Akatsuki will already be ruling the entire shinobi world.

Neji sighed, closing his eyes. A hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hyuuga-san, we're in this together. Do not worry. With a ninja like me, I assure you Konoha will be safe."

Aoba... always the humble one.

"Thank you. I expect more information in our next meeting."

"Just as planned."

They both left the eerie forest of death and back into the village using different routes. Neji was worried. What has become of Konoha? He couldn't watch another episode of grief and chaos happens to his beloved home. It was too fast. 5 years was not enough. The last war still affects negatively to the people and knowing another one is coming was devastating. They had won last time but he wasn't sure it will happen the second time around. He still mourns for his fallen comrades. He never wanted to mourn again. That was why he planned for defiance or in a nicer term, a persuasion for the council to redo everything. Now who was there to help? A lot of course but he needed people who are well aware of this situation. These are not something Chuunin ranking and below would know. Even most of the Jounin aren't aware of the real state of mayhem happening covertly though they may feel the tension.

The Hokage?

She was just a nagging voice to the elders. They listen but never consider. In an instant, three names rushed into his mind,

Kakashi Hatake

Naruto Uzumaki

Shikamaru Nara.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

_(1) Special High Ninja. Elite specialists in their areas much like warrant officers in real-world militaries. _

_Well, what do you guys think? I hope it's good. Oh and I hope the slight Neji/Tenten is okay because it helps to develop the story more. _

_If there are any confusing part that you want me to elaborate I could and would for the sake of ... yeah, I'll just do it. Next chapter will come soon after the exams. The romance will come too... don't worry. (^_^)_

_Please, read and review!_

**Kissa**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

**I have ultimately decided to include Neji and Tenten's storyline as well into this fic because it would be very hard for me to develop this story without them. So the first few chapters seem to revolve around them a bit and then I'll focus more on Shikamaru's dilemma and work to finish this whole thing. Neji will be the main motivation for Shikamaru to fight against the council apart from his "love" for a certain kunoichi. I hope you guys are patient enough. Once again, no beta and I'm not sure if I proofread well enough to spot my grammar mistakes. Apologies.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. It's his. *points to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Special thanks to: minniemousemom, Melyss, UNCPanda, and two other unregistered visitors. I appreciate your reviews.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"No, the Mystical Palm Technique does not require chakra moulding but an incessant chakra flow from the hands into a wound or afflicted body part."

Repeating this for the umpteenth time was about as interesting as a creationist repeating that dogs do not give birth to cats. Another eager hand raised up from the occupied rows of seats filled with medic-wannabe academy students. Maintaining her poker face, she nodded to the haughty looking boy as a signal to start asking his question.

"All you ever said throughout this whole session is chakra control. I'm sure there's something more important than that skill to become a medic-nin… right?"

Sakura inwardly groan in despair. _You, ignorant kid! Do you have any idea how hard chakra control is?_ With a strict voice, she answered him trying very hard not to scold about his low knowledge of chakra control by addressing the whole class. They were children after all.

"As a matter of fact, chakra control is a never-ending subject in this field. Without this skill, you can barely heal a scrape in a battle. A medic-nin is expected to have unlimited chakra control in order to widen their healing abilities and quality of healing."

She paused for a second to judge the look on the students' faces before continuing,

"In the ninja world, chakra plays an important role as energy to activate any kind of jutsu. In essence, chakra control **is more important than anything else** because without it, you can't perform and reach the standard medical skills."

Heavy groans and complaints immediately filled the classroom once she finished her words. Obviously, it was a very difficult learning skill for each and every one of them. A rather fragile looking girl timidly put her hand up in the air.

"Umm… how… how do you measure chakra?"

Sakura smiled. It was the exact same question she once asked Iruka-sensei when she was eight. She repeated what her teacher once told her in the exact same words minus the lame joke he added in the end. It was the easy stand on the water in the middle of the lake without getting wet before your chakra runs out. She still uses that method despite it being the chakra test for children. Plus, it was more of a chakra control test rather than measurement. The real method was by chakra typing method which she also told the class.

"Oh! My daddy made me do that last month! I could only do it for 6 minutes though. Then, I just fell into the lake. Too bad I couldn't swim."

The class snickered at the lively red-headed girl's exclamation. Another girl asked Sakura about her own record. She proudly told the whole class that she holds the amazing record of one month, 23 days and 7 minutes. They all gawked and openly whispered admiration towards the pink haired kunoichi. But of course then she added the fact that chakra was easy to control in a calm and peaceful state and could last longer compared to a hectic battle situation that uses much more chakra than usual.

After a few more curious inquiries from the academy students, she concluded her presentation on the medical field of a ninja profession. The class teacher expresses his gratitude and asked the whole class to express theirs before allowing Sakura to exit the academy. Sakura left the class with a sweet smile and warm wishes to the students. She was satisfied with the knowledge that many young ninja in training were expressing more interest in the medical profession than before and couldn't help but feel accomplished.

She took her time walking towards the Hokage's office thinking about the bright future of Konoha if the health condition is increased and guaranteed. A small part of her decided that she may want to further her career as a medic mentor but of course, with all the current conflicts going on, she would have to keep that wish in a box for a while. Besides, she's not quite sure if she could go through a day with a bunch of tiny mongrels well without injuring anyone. She was a person with limited patience after all.

She was about to pass the Ichiraku and was not surprised to catch the glimpse of bright yellow and orange sitting on a stool. She had to use her silent ninja skills to make sure she concealed her chakra presence and hide in the crowd in order to prevent herself from being spotted by the annoying hyper ball. She still has to meet Lady Tsunade after all and knowing Naruto, he won't let her off until she sit and have a bowl of ramen that usually leads to another bowl ruining her perfect diet.

Sakura would never admit this but she was secretly a big eater and her constant lust for sweets does not help at all. Sure she was a kunoichi, her schedule filled with physical activities and was on a strict diet to maintain her health but that doesn't stop her from making excuses to fill her tummy with delicious food and sweets every now and then. Thank god she has a perfect metabolic rate so that weight gain is not really a serious issue but she is a woman and a woman has her insecurities.

She passed a group of genins talking about the upcoming Chuunin exams. She inwardly grimaced as her system was overcome with displeasure. The Chuunin exams also meant the arrival of Jounin exams and the ANBU selection. All of the Konoha 11 was now Jounin and ANBUs with the exception of Naruto, Ino, Hinata and herself. Naruto failed the last Jounin exam making him still a Chuunin (he passed the Chuunin exam when he was 18) while Ino and Hinata was constantly beaten in round 2 by great competitors in all of the past exams.

Sakura however, was still a Chuunin because her mentor had prohibited her from applying for the exam until she had managed to use the basic technique of the Creation Rebirth. Truth to be told, even the most basic of this jutsu was very hard and almost impossible for her to learn. Unlike Tsunade, she was not gifted with a great chakra supply. She only has a ratio of 1:3 of chakra compared to her mentor. However, she could overcome this by her excellent chakra control abilities. She had an innate ability to use techniques to their maximum efficiency without wasting any chakra that works to her favour in her training.

Being a Chuunin sucks because that means she missed out on a lot of things her year group was already experiencing and was sometimes stuck with tedious work like the hospital work and labs. Not that working in the hospital is bad or anything but she just wants to travel once in a while. It had been 2 years since her last mission out of the country. She was occupied with the health rejuvenation of Fire Country after the war that she barely had any time for _real_ missions all thanks to her wonderful mentor. She loves her, yes, but sometimes couldn't help but wonder whether the female Hokage was secretly trying to make her life miserable.

"Maybe this time she would. I mean, I did manage to heal myself without any seals after all. That's a progress. Ah, who am I kidding? The basic to her is practically the entire jutsu. Damn." Sakura muttered.

"Hey, Sakura!"

A familiar voice called her from up ahead. Ino was waving from her flower shop towards Sakura with a friendly smile on her face. Sakura returned the smile and stopped after reaching her friend.

"Hey."

"So how's life?"

"Are you serious?" Sakura scoffed.

Ino smiled apologetically towards her. She knew of her problems and current ban from the exams and felt sorry for the kunoichi. Unlike Sakura, Ino was useful for the intelligence department which meant constant travelling from one country to the other. She had decided against being a professional medical-nin after seeing Sakura constant work in the lab and the hospital. She wants sunlight to keep her beautiful tanned skin after all.

"Don't worry, Sakura. It'll get better soon, I promise."

Sakura just gave a shrug in response.

"So how's Shikamaru? He's not causing you a lot of trouble is he?"

"Ugh, he is such a pain! I really don't know how you're able to cope with him after all this time. He doesn't take his medicine, always complaining, say 'troublesome' in every single sentence and don't you dare get me started on his pineapple hair!"

Sakura huffed in the end crossing her arms. Ino laughed.

"Yup, that's lazy ass for you but you know that already, forehead. But what you don't know is…"

The blonde trailed off wriggling her eyebrows suggestively at the annoyed pink haired lady.

"What?"

Sakura questioned feeling the annoying curiosity tugging in her brain.

"Ah… I would love to tell you _all_ about it but I have work and customers to attend to so… later forehead!"

Sakura was left standing there watching the retreating figure of the curvy Yamanaka feeling utterly confused. She just shook her head in dismissal and continued her walk to the Hokage tower. It was probably something embarrassing about Shikamaru and his fear of medicines anyway; a good laugh but not worth her time to investigate. She has other matters at hand to worry about.

* * *

Anger.

It was all that he felt as he knelt in front of the head of the Hyuuga's clan. His blood boiled in fury as his fist tightens making the veins prominent under his pale white skin. His face was contorted in rage but he had managed to keep his voice low to an uncharacteristic growl. Now, he was fighting against the mighty urge to tackle the serious man before him. The older Hyuuga's response was certainly quite the opposite of his well wishes and his slight mockery of Neji Hyuuga's capability of leadership was certainly what chagrined him deeply. The fact that the older man was activating the seal on his forehead wasn't making things easier as well. He felt the pain but his resentment towards the rejection of his proposal, to which Hiashi had once promised he would support, overcomes the agony sparking his anger fuse.

"You gave me your word, Hiashi-sama." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"That I did and you can still count on it but to this absurdity you suggested is beyond my power and yours."

He replied monotonously, his face betraying no emotion.

"How is saving Konoha an 'absurdity'?" He challenged Hiashi.

Hiashi shook his head in disappointment. Neji was not controlling his emotions. As an ANBU, it was one of the main things he should not have a problem with.

"Be calm, my nephew."

Neji, realising that he was showing far too many weaknesses quickly regained his composure albeit still feeling angry. He pulled his face into his calm mask and tried to keep his breathing regular. Hiashi nodded in approval.

"I truly am on your side but I hold not the power you seek. You are the leader of this compound and as a leader it is not wise for you to bother the council with such frivolous request."

Neji grimaced.

_Frivolous? I am trying to save a comrade and the entire village and you call it frivolous?_

"I understand that this girl is important but so is the alliance between our countries. You saw how the Akatsuki had used the hole between our bonds to disrupt the political system. Think about the conflicts that could be avoided with the marriage contract. Think about the people of Konoha. Think about your clan members." Hiashi continued his voice slightly mellow and more persuasive.

Neji contemplated for a while. He knew Hiashi was right. The council was trying to avoid war between the countries to focus more on the Akatsuki. The last time, right after Akatsuki's defeat, another war between countries erupted fighting for land and imprisonment rights. It had wasted time and energy trying to overcome the fight. They could've started mending the broken instead of having more battles.

"And to take away the rights of a kunoichi is considered acceptable?" Neji stubbornly countered.

Hiashi took a few seconds before replying,

"The Kunoichi rights had always been the weaker argumentative point on the law table. However, it is clear that a ninja is born to serve. The girl will be proud to serve her country."

"So you wouldn't fight them, if Hanabi was the one signed?"

Hiashi's expression darkens considerably. Neji had finally struck a chord.

"She is an asset to the country and the council would never dare-"

"Are you implying that my teammate is not as valuable as your daughter? That she is just an ordinary ninja with no blood ties that the council could just use her like a toy compared to your own daughter?"

Neji's rage once again took over. Hiashi blanched. He quickly recomposed himself.

"That is not what I meant."

"Then what?" Neji inquired further, his deep voice a serious growl.

Hiashi sighed. He knew he was in the wrong. He had deemed it acceptable for an ordinary ninja, filled with talent but not from a noble family, to be wedded off as a trade for alliance to a Feudal Lord but for a noble kunoichi much less her own daughters? He understood Neji's position. He had understood for a while now but he was more concerned about the whole Akatsuki situation and the protection of both Main and Branch Hyuuga clan. Furthermore, the council had the veto power. He would be in a serious position along with his family if he ever confronts the council. He should know; he was one of the board trustees.

What bothers him above anything else was the fact that his nephew was being reckless and too forward in his move. It was very unlike him to act this way. He had become what Hiashi had considered a perfect shinobi after he was appointed leader of the branch Hyuuga clan and was hand selected by the Hokage to be an ANBU but right now, he was asking for a death wish. What was so important about this female weapon master that Neji was risking his social status and life for?

Unless…

Yes. His nephew is in love. This proves the cause of his act. Love pushes any human beings to the limit and sometimes makes them reach beyond the stars. Neji saw it fit that by protecting his love, he could save her and the whole fate other young kunoichi will soon have. He wanted to defy the council so that he could save this girl from being with another man. The release of the veto power was another bonus to his cause. Assuming that he does only care about the council playing God, he would still get the same result. All in all it was a double mission to him.

"We are both wrong."

Noticing the slight change of chakra emotion, he knew the young lad in front of him was confused so he continued,

"We are both being selfish. We are only thinking about our own benefits rather than the whole. Even if we do accomplish our goals, we will still lose no matter what. The elders… they know what they are doing and they have decided which and who will be lost. It is already written in stones."

"No one can determine… another's destiny." Neji whispered with his eyes down casted.

Hiashi nodded. He was against that belief. His twin brother, Hizashi, was a living proof. If only he could turn back time, he would save his brother and offered his life instead. Neji was the precious memento of his late brother, he had sworn to give Neji what his father had wanted for him and that included a chance for the position as the true head clan. But he couldn't. Not when Neji's judgement was hazy. It was a right intention, yes, but too impulsive.

"I promised myself that I will give you what your father had wished for you and I will but I can't, at least not now."

Neji nodded.

"I will give you a few days to clear your mind. We will talk again and see what we can do."

Neji got up and gave a bow towards Hiashi and proceeded out of the candle lit room. The meeting had brought no positive result but at least Hiashi had agreed to discuss further about his involvement in the confrontation of the council. Neji had requested he use both of their position to taunt the council. He had even suggested that Hiashi raise the Branch leader's position as equal to the Main house leader's position. The result was still vague. It was a yes but a no at the same time. He shook his head. He needed to clear his mind. Hiashi was right. He was being selfish and he himself knew that he was too rash in his actions.

He headed towards the training ground and decided to meditate until Kakashi Hatake replies to his message. He knew it would take less than a day for the copycat to respond to the message if his ex-student was involved.

* * *

"Troublesome… troublesome… troublesome, troublesome, troublesome, troublesome!" chanted the Jounin under his breath.

He never thought that this would happen so fast. He was expecting it but didn't think that it will actually take place in this few years. The elders were definitely rushing things. Something was up and he wasn't told about it and that pisses Shikamaru off pretty badly.

"Relax, Shikamaru. It's not the end of the world."

Shikamaru shot an annoyed look towards the grey haired man leaning against the opposite wall reading the Icha Icha series.

"Your student is going to be sent behind enemy lines and you're not the least worried about it?"

"_Ex-_student…"

Kakashi corrected him ignoring the glare the lazy Jounin was sending his way.

"Besides… she's a big girl now. She can handle the big boys."

"The _big boys_ you are referring to are the Akatsuki, Kakashi."

Kakashi frowned and furrowed his eyebrows, snapping the red book shut and keeping it in his pouch.

"Now that you mentioned it, I am a bit worried."

The lazy Jounin sighed showing his frustration. He made a move to grab the scroll on the countertop ignoring the slight ache on his side and re-read it making sure he had all of the information written.

"You sure Aoba was the one who sent you this."

"The one and only."

"Then it must be right. What I don't get is why the squad hadn't told me anything. This is a drag. I really should get out of here. Dad didn't mention anything about marriage contracts and intelligence trade at all. But of course, that's not our field. Gah. They should at least tell us something. Tell **me **something."

Kakashi observed the younger man on the hospital bed. He knew Shikamaru was frustrated about the recent news. He was too but there was nothing he could do about it. He'd have to meet the person in question for confirmation and Neji for the 'planning'. He had retired after the war but was dragged back half a year ago from the mountains (to which he had retreated to) because of the current situation. He had just found out about all the classified information a few months ago and the load of it was already giving him a bad headache.

"Then why are you still in bed? I know for a fact that Naruto and the others got out after a week and a half."

Shikamaru cringed. Only Chouji, Ino and his dad knows about his reasons for staying longer than necessary in the hospital. He didn't know if he could tell Kakashi because like all the others, he might laugh and reprimand him.

"Come on. You can trust me."

Shikamaru sighed.

"I don't want to go into the Special Squad."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

"And…?"

"… and I figured that if I stay here longer… Sakura would too." He told the older Jounin feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I thought so."

Shikamaru felt the heat rising to his face so he quickly hides it by turning his face away from Kakashi and talking about the Special Squad.

"So do you have your reply?"

Kakashi chuckled amusingly. It seems like Shikamaru has a soft spot for his favourite female student. Oh, if only Naruto finds out.

"No, I still haven't decided yet but I think I know the answer."

Shikamaru raised one of his eyebrows.

"I'd say no and they would still ship me off with the Special Squad."

Shikamaru smirked. Seems like the copycat knows what's in store for them. They continued the rest of the day discussing more about the council and Neji's proposal in a more serious way after Kakashi had checked and sent his shadow clones around to alert him of anyone. It was some sort of a taboo to be talking about the elders in a negative way after all. They had agreed to put Naruto out of this affair for the time being because of his bad impression towards the elders. He hadn't been exactly discreet about his dislike of the council.

Kakashi shared with Shikamaru of the things he learnt while he was in the mountains. News was that the monks up there had been visited by the Akatsuki. They had provided information that the Akatsuki members had been revived and are now alive. This information wasn't exactly news since Shikamaru had been in a fight against Itachi and Kisame who were supposed to be dead. Kakashi had also shared that there may be disturbance in the Chuunin exams by ninjas from other countries. Shikamaru had shared his insights about the exams and were more concerned about the ANBU selection. He had an Intel telling him that another Root ANBU was forming. This was hard to prove of course. The ANBUs were either really good at hiding information or it was really just a myth. Having a second Root would just divide the strength and trust of the whole ANBU system; definitely not something to be taken lightly.

A clone suddenly popped into the room. They both took it as a signal that someone was coming. They casually changed the subject into an everyday life conversation.

"So what's up with you and Sakura?"

Shikamaru growled.

* * *

**The finals were awesome. Not-so-surprisingly, I got the worst grade in English. I laughed so hard when I got my papers back. Rest be assured I do not have to repeat the year. Thank god.**

**I think I could update sooner than before now that school is over. I'll continue on the next chapter after the Euro finals though. Can't wait! Me and my mates will be cheering for both teams. We're not biased. (Yeah right)**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review! I deserve some comments for my hard work, yeah? Haha. (^_^)**

**Love you guys.**

**Kissa**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

**I think this story is going very slowly. I have no idea how to push it into the next level because I keep getting the conflicts messed up and trying to explain how Shikamaru had developed his extreme crush for Sakura. I'm trying to repair it in this chapter so please read carefully or you might miss it. My friend had told me that I was stalling the idea and is not following the plot that I had written in prior. She is right. That is because I'm too lazy to flip open my diary and most of it was made up in my mind anyway that I didn't bother. I just write as I go along. Not a really good strategy, I know. Please tell me what you think about it and how I can possibly improve. It will help. Furthermore, the real thing will start to brew in the next few chapters so patience is all I request from you guys.**

**Another thing, is a slightly possessive Shikamaru too much? In my personal opinion, I find it really cute though I don't know how to make it only a small side of him because right now, I'm making this a somewhat big trait of his and it strays from the original plot. Curse you brain. Why you no plan! I will try to tone it down so that he doesn't come off trying to proclaim his undying love like Lee using the word 'youth' or 'lovely cherry blossom'.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

**Intelligence Trade**

Expression growing severe, Shikamaru sat on the edge of the bed as he listened to the ANBU's report. His deadpan voice was clear and perceptible above the occasional ruffle of papers as he reach another page but the Jounin still didn't want to believe what he was hearing. It was all very hard for him to accept. He has half the mind to ignore the ANBU and just continue with his sleep but this was an important report about his failed mission and the Special Squad. Plus, he needed to update his knowledge about the recent Akatsuki attack in the villages of Fire Country. It seems like after their mission, the Akatsuki uncharacteristically went on a rage destroying 5 small villages in the country. There wasn't enough time to deploy a team to fight them. It had caused mayhem and now 5 Chuunin teams were sent to help them recover. Rubbing his brow, he breathed a deep, tired sigh.

He felt different, almost a stranger. There were more than one occasion where he had killed in cold blood; plan an attack and counterattack while people around him were fighting, screaming and bleeding all the while his face bore the same expressionless, lazy look. It was no different than what he felt inside either. It was just a messy killing spree. However, facing the judgement of his failed mission was an entirely different case altogether. All failures are penalized with social work or suspension in a ninja's life and now he was being told that he would serve a week with a group of junior medic nin in a village outside Konoha for medical training. He would be the errand boy; definitely something not worth his time and it was creating a lot of trouble for him. This penalty didn't exist 4 years ago but the council had assumed this method will encourage the decrease of failure percentage in missions assigned towards shinobis. Though Shikamaru knew it was only a way for the village to cut budgets on petty tasks that could be assigned as D-rank missions.

Anyway, this all means that he would be away from the village and couldn't watch over Sakura as she was heading out on a mission before he would return. He had been monitoring her for a year now after the discovery of the B-Book just in case anything would happen to her. They were after all, in preparation mode for the next war. He wanted to keep her safe just until then or if he could, forever. He knew he couldn't deny Sakura her job much longer. His indirect request to the Hokage for lab assignments and hospital work throughout the past years were already too much. Yes, Shikamaru knew he was being too much of a control freak over Sakura but it was for her own best interest. He had made promises towards so many people of Sakura's safety so it's best if he takes it seriously and hold on to them. He specifically remembered the oath Kakashi, Naruto and the Hokage had made him swore to when he and Sakura was assigned an A-could be-S rank mission. Even when the time had passed, he still holds to that promise. Besides, Sakura would be grateful if she knew he was willing to protect her with his life.

_I hope._

The ANBU now was informing him about his duties as a Special Squad member. Yes, that's right. He had accepted but only so that he could be closer to the council to know about their true motives. He had discussed about this with Kakashi yesterday. They found it essential to find roots in military support of the council in order to proceed with their 'defiance plan' as he had put it.

Aoba had clearly exaggerated Neji's plan. The Hyuuga wasn't planning for an open or covert defiance but rather to gather evidence of their dirty play and supporters in order to abate their powers and deactivate the many laws the council had instil in the government. It was also to find out about the council's true motives. Nevertheless, it was still defiance in a way since the council had put up an act that prohibited people of the Fire Country to talk and act negatively of the council. A taboo system was activated. There were many ears listening for them so that people can be caught easily. Ordinary citizens would have a hard time with this but for high level ninjas it wasn't a problem. All they have to do was be cautious.

"…"

Shikamaru didn't realise the ANBU had stopped reading his reports. He raised his head in question after the sudden silence.

"Is that all?"

The ANBU nodded. Shikamaru noticed he had placed the reports on the small table and was holding out a scroll for him to take.

"Your penalty information."

Shikamaru muttered his favourite string of curses and took the scroll from him. The ANBU made a specific hand signal and disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the lazy ninja alone in the white hospital room. The new official member of the Special Squad didn't even bother to read the scroll. He just let it fall onto his bed along with his body allowing himself to be comfortable in the soft clean mattress.

"Man, I'm gonna miss this…"

"Miss what, exactly?"

Shikamaru groaned when he heard the voice coming from the door. He snapped his eyes shut and covered his ears in attempt to drone out the upcoming yells from the girl when he said,

"Go away…"

"Oh… that's nice. That's really nice. I just came up all this way from the shop to see how things are going with you only to listen to you dissing me off. Well, sorry for trying to be a caring teammate!"

Shikamaru replied with another groan.

"You, lazy ass! Get up!"

Ino yelled and pulled the ninja into a sitting position.

"Hey! Don't manhandle me, woman!"

"Oh, I'll manhandle you whenever I want, mister!"

Shikamaru grumbled lowly and pulled himself out of her strong grip. He then tried to put as much distance as he could from the scary blonde. Ino had meanwhile busied herself by putting new flowers in the vase.

"So you'll be out tomorrow?"

He grunted.

"And you have to serve your penalty now?"

He grunted again.

"How long is it for? A week?"

Another grunt.

"Okay, can you stop being a caveman and answer me like a normal person, please?"

Ino asked annoyed at her teammate's behaviour.

"Only if you leave me alone."

Ino rolled her eyes and moved to clean the bedside table that was slightly messy. She took the empty plastic cups and threw them into the bin. She took the reports and arranged them neatly before putting them in his bag near the small drawer. Then she took the scroll and opened it taking her seat on the uncomfortable plastic chair near the bed ignoring the black haired ninja's protest.

"Penalty… failure… do not repeat same mistake. Okay. Let's see your punishment. Hmm… errands in the Tea Village with a bunch of brats. Uh huh. Very fun. Oh, wait. New medic-nin brats. Even better. You do know they're terribly demanding, Shikamaru?"

"Troublesome."

Ino chuckled. She continued reading the message while making fun of her teammate for the future trouble he'll be in. Shikamaru just silently pray that the blonde will get out soon.

"Hang on! This is junior Team 5 medic-nin! Sakura's their temporary mentor. Hey-hey-hey… you just hit the jackpot Shika!"

Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh, come on. I know you're excited."

_What the hell? She's going to Tea then Kirigakure?_

Shikamaru grabbed the message scroll from Ino's hand and read furiously of the entire content before ordering Ino,

"Get me some paper and a pen!"

Ino was shocked but complied. When she handed him the writing materials, he started to write with a very serious look on his face. Ino felt disturbed. She knew something was wrong.

"Is it Sakura?"

"She was supposed to be sent to Kiri next week."

"I know, she told me. She'll be teaching them something. Shikamaru, what's-?"

"She's going to Tea with a group of medic-nin then to Kiri the next week."

…as if that explains anything. Ino was even more confused. What was wrong with Tea Village and Kirigakure that Shikamaru was making a big deal out of it? Then it occurred to her that the Tea Village was recently attacked by rogue ninjas assuming to be working under the Akatsuki. Kirigakure meanwhile had been infiltrated by the Taka. Realization dawned on her.

"No…"

"I don't think this is just an intelligence trade mission, Ino."

It couldn't be…could it?

Will she be sent there to heal the injured villagers and battle the remaining rogue ninjas and proceed to Kiri to confront the Taka? And the Intelligence trade was just a cover story? Now that doesn't make any sense! Why send a group of medic and not a complete squad? Why to the places that will be declared the red area?

Millions of question rushed through her mind. She tried to connect the lines to all of the possibilities and information she had gathered these past few years. A lot of theories came up but she couldn't really prove it. One of the positive things she got for working in the Konohagakure Intelligence Division was that she gets to know a lot of things but recently, her data report was filled with more null hypothesis and theories rather than actual details. Not many of her members were getting solid facts either. She had to admit it was all getting a bit hectic and alarming but they were visited by one of the elders and was told it was expected since they were dealing with the Akatsuki's game. They were told to progress as they were. She had taught it was suspicious so she had a serious talk with her father though it was pointless. Even Inoichi Yamanaka was in the dark.

"Should I talk to Sakura about it?" Ino asked.

"I'm not sure. We don't know if she's directly involved."

"We?"

Ah crap. He always slips things out when he was with Ino. They grew up together so the bond between them were very strong hence the reason why he could trust her with almost everything. It was the only reason he had told her about his emotions for Sakura (or rather, after being forced the information out of him) and had made her swore not to tell anyone or anything, not even her flowers. This however, was not something Ino should know. She was constantly 'brain checked' to avoid information leak after all and he couldn't risk failure for Neji's plan and his.

"You and me. I assume you know about her involvement with the whole Akatsuki-Tea thing."

"Well, she only told me she'll be teaching them practical medical ninja skills! Oh, if she's hiding anything I swear I'll murder her! I'll chop her to pieces then feed them to penguins or better yet…" Ino droned on and on of different killing methods.

_Nice save, Nara._

"You know what? I'm gonna find her and force her to tell me everything!"

"No, Ino. Take things slowly. I don't think she's at fault. There's a possibility that she's just the puppet."

"Or she's willing to go on the mission just to get Sasuke back!"

"Ino, you're an Intel. Please don't degrade yourself. No one knows Taka infiltrated Kirigakure apart from us. Sakura's a medic. She doesn't know about this and the council will be damned if a kunoichi like her finds out."

Ino flushed red and crossed her arms. Shikamaru was right. Only the higher ranking Jounins of the Tactical and Assassination Division and the Intelligence Division were aware of the situation and Lady Tsunade weren't allowed to tell anyone.

"Well, maybe she's secretly spying on us to get information…"

Shikamaru raised one of his eyebrows in an 'are-you-serious' kind of way.

"Ugh, this is frustrating!"

"Trust me, I know."

Ino huffed in annoyance. Then, a sudden thought struck her.

"Shikamaru, do you think that...maybe...the elders aren't the only one?"

"Not the only one?" He repeated.

"All the holes in our information and the hush-hush; it seems like the council is trying to hide something or someone."

He considered this. His father had actually shared this same feeling with him but there was no proof. The council was hard to reach and kept to themselves. Only those within the group could really discuss things with them. They only give orders and rarely discuss with the whole ninja staff. The system works like this: the ninjas hand in their reports and evaluation, they take it and do whatever it was that they do inside their group and give back a set of instructions or insights. It was a good system for information safety but it created a bridge. His father was of course constantly working with the elders but Shikaku Nara, like the others were not allowed to discuss certain things with others. That was why he wanted to become an ANBU in the first place, so that he could eliminate the difference and get the details he wants. He was more than qualified for the position but he had been absent from the selections too many times (mission, severe injuries, coma) he missed the opportunity.

"It could be. Then that would top the other theories you had come up with before."

Ino growled. Shikamaru was mocking her reports despite the humourless façade he was sporting.

Shikamaru finished his writing and folded the paper before sealing it in an envelope Ino handed to him.

"Can I trust you to not read this and deliver it directly to someone?"

"Of course you can!"

"I'm serious, Ino. If this letter falls into the wrong hand, I'll be in big trouble and I can't risk suspension. Not now in the middle of this fiasco."

Ino noticing his strained serious voice hinted that the letter was truly important. She nodded solemnly to show that she understood the importance of the letter.

"Please give this to Sai. He's under surveillance so be careful."

"Alright."

* * *

Sai was busy shadowing a stroke on the canvas when someone ringed the doorbell. Reluctantly, he stopped his painting and went to answer the door. He faked a smile when he saw Ino holding a vase of flowers.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

When they were both inside, Sai closed the door and beckoned Ino towards the living room. He asked the normal 'how are you?' and 'how was your day?' to which the blonde replied quite exuberantly. After he set the tea he had quickly made on the tea table, he asked Ino,

"Is there a particular reason for your visit…with the flowers?"

Sai asked politely. Ino smiled and turned her head around to get a full view of his art filled house. It was only the second time she was in his house so the awe was still new in her system.

"Why yes actually. I want you to paint me the flowers, if that's okay with you. It's for the shop."

"I see."

He nodded, his face still decorated with the artificial smile.

"I can pay you if you like?"

"Oh, no. This is just an easy task. It won't take long."

Ino's smile widens. All of the sudden, she leapt up from her seat and jumped towards Sai giving him an amorous hug. Sai was slightly taken aback but responded albeit awkwardly by lightly patting her back.

"Thank you, Sai! You're the best!"

"Would you like to watch me paint?"

"Sure, why not."

She replied when she had pulled back. He rose from his seat and went into another room beckoning Ino to come with him. He set up a new set of painting canvas, smaller than his previous one and started to fill his plate with new paint. Ino had set the flowers on a table for him. Trying to escape any awkward silence, Ino began to ask Sai about his day.

"Oh, I had fun today. Naruto taught me how to chase away guys with my jutsu."

"Chase away guys?"

"Why, yes. They were flirting with Sakura."

Ino scoffed.

"Seriously?"

Sai nodded happily. It was true. Naruto didn't like the way the guys keeps hitting on Sakura so he had threaten them to go away but they didn't take Naruto seriously so he had asked Sai to do it for him. Sai had asked politely at first but he was flipped off. Naruto then suggested him to use the Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll. The result was satisfying.

_And I thought Shikamaru was a freak…_

Since she was fed up with Sakura's constant complain about her boring work, she had taken the initiation by going to the Hokage to ask about it. The Hokage had replied it was all a crucial assessment for Sakura if she wants to further her career as a Jounin Medic and that there were many high demands from the labs and the hospital. Unsatisfied, she went through the request files and studied them to find out about the plea makers just in case there were any similarities. She couldn't help thinking that someone was playing a joke on Sakura or that the elders wanted to limit Sakura's abilities. The list was huge so she tried to categorize them all. Majority fits in civilians, ANBU squads, the tactical division and the Medical division. Tsunade was right, the demands were no joke. All this time, Ino thought all Sakura ever did was healing people and sit on lab stools studying viruses. She was proven wrong. Nothing can describe the difficulty level her pink haired friend was constantly challenged with.

However, when she had sort out all the differences and similarities, she made a very shocking discovery. Most of the groups sorted were somehow and covertly connected to none other than the infamous lazy ass himself. Even the civilians were the ones who were most associated with the Nara clan. Intrigued but mad as hell, she hunted Shikamaru down and forces him to tell everything that he knows about it. She ended up with a very cute one-sided love story. She had been rooting for him ever since though never let down the fact that he was being so paranoid over his crush.

"Right, Ino?"

"Ah, of course!"

Ino replied not knowing what she was agreeing with. She was too busy thinking about those two she spaced out.

"So that is why I think Shikamaru should man up and start asking Sakura out."

"Wait… what?"

"I told you, I have been studying human emotions these past few years that I'm positive that I can almost understand them well now."

"So you're saying that you know Shikamaru likes Sakura? Is it obvious 'cause it took me like forever to find out!"

Sai smiled in an almost genuine kind of way.

"Yes. I've noticed it since the last war. It's really…something."

"Whoa…"

_That long? God, Sakura. What on Earth did you do to Shikamaru?_

"Finished."

Sai declared as he put down his brush. He step aside and let Ino marvel at it. It was beautiful in a very Sai kind of way. The painting was more of an abstract clash photorealism. The strokes were elegant and very careful; it was hard to believe he painted it all in just 20 minutes. Only one word can describe it,

"Awesome!"

Then she continued,

"Well, I better get going now."

"Okay. Let me show you the way."

Sai showed her the way out still keeping his smiling face intact.

"Oh, Sai?"

"Yes, Ino?"

"I'd appreciate it if you keep the Shikamaru thing quiet. He doesn't really like it if people know."

"He's a bit shy, I understand."

Ino laughed. A shy Shikamaru was the last thing she'd ever imagine. After Ino said her thanks, Sai waved her goodbye. He then proceeded inside to finish his earlier piece before the Yamanaka had come and intrude. He sat down on his stool and suddenly remembered something.

"I think I need a shower."

He said to himself. He slowly stood up, crossed his clean living room into his messy bedroom and went straight into the dull bathroom. After making sure he was out of sight from the spying eyes, he reached into his backside pocket. He found a neatly folded letter. He had find it odd to find Ino coming with a request for him to paint her the flowers since she had come earlier in the month with the same request before he was put under surveillance (it was the possible reformation of ROOT, they keep tabs on every ex-members). Ino must've come to send him this hence the reason for the hug. He had felt Ino touched his behind so he knew something was up. Turning on the shower and letting the steam filled the small bathroom, he began to read.

* * *

**I am proud of this record breaking update. LoL. Like I mentioned in my notes somewhere up there, I find it so hard to proceed to the conflict! I'll get to it though... hopefully. I hope the really slightly possessive, paranoid and crazy in love Shikamaru is okay. I mean, it's not really that bad, no? If it is... I'll fix him with my magical fingers. Haha.**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review, yeah? They are food to a writer's soul. The sweet ones make us keep going and the bitter ones are medicine helping us get better. **

**Spoiler alert!**

**After Shikamaru realise that the elders were not the only one running the council, he has to leave the village to investigate. What will happen to Sakura?**

**Hehehe... sorry can't help it.**

**(^_^)**

**Kissa**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

**This chapter focused on details from the previous chapter that were not told. A little short, I hope you don't mind. Thank you SoKira for pointing out the missing links and the 'ideas' really did help me and thank you UNCPanda and Less Plastic for your support, advice and encouragements. The grammar can't be helped. I have no beta reader and I myself can't spot it even after proofreading. I still try my best to make sure the writing quality is good. Since you guys liked the possessiveness, I decided to keep it that way but in a smaller scale. Shikamaru has to be cool at the same time so that the 'surprise' I have in the future chapters won't sound out of character for him.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

**Mission**

Sakura Haruno was on her way to the Hokage Tower when she saw Shikamaru out and about heading towards the outskirts of the village. She decided to greet him and ask about his progression since she had missed her shifts these past few days because of her training. Shizune filled in for her and had informed that he did fine and actually took his medicine. Sakura was surprised and wanted to know what had made him changed his mind. Just as she was about to call out his name, a beautiful woman with long black hair and a tanned complexion came out of nowhere and hugged him squealing happily. Shikamaru didn't look exactly troubled by her as he would usually have looked and felt if any other girl had done that. She knew because she had once jumped and hugged him during the Cherry Blossom Festival two years ago. He grumbled, called her annoying and flushed red from embarrassment.

Who was that girl? She looked like a civilian but Sakura had never seen her around before. They looked pretty well acquainted judging from their body languages. Shikamaru said something to the girl and she smiled. Sakura was very surprised. That woman was extremely pretty. He extended his hand out for her and she accepted. A tinge of jealousy presented itself inside her body but she dismissed it. She was in no position to feel that way. Sakura decided to let him be since they were already walking hand in hand towards somewhere, probably a dating destination. She smiled and silently wished Shikamaru good luck with that unknown woman.

"A nice man deserves a nice lady."

She quoted her mother's words to herself and continued on her way humming a happy tune. She was in a good mood because she was on her way to get a mission briefing, well, two mission briefings from the Hokage. She didn't know about the recent one she was assigned to but the first mission was to conduct health check for the entire Tea Village and teaching them basics and some of the advanced healing techniques. All she knew about the second mission was that it was out of the country and is considered an A-rank mission, something she was looking forward too. She was actually over the moon when she received news about it and gladly accepted. Now all she has to do was meet her tutor to get the details before making her preparation to leave.

When she reached the office, she knocked on the door twice and let herself in after the approval from the other side. She stood straight and listened attentively trying to prove her mentor that she was ready for more challenges.

"Sakura… I hope you understand the danger you're getting yourself into after you accept this mission. It is no child's play. I, myself, am doubtful if you could carry out this duty." Tsunade said looking very solemn.

Sakura nodded and gave a few encouraging words. She was a kunoichi. She knew the cycle well. Tsunade nodded. She knew her student would never back away from this type of missions especially when she had been cooped up inside a cage for a long time.

"Before I proceed with the briefing, I would like to inform you about the recent attacks in our country. After the failed infiltration of the Akatsuki hideout, they went on a rage and destroyed 5 small villages while the nearby villages were attacked by rogue ninjas, assumed to be working under the red clouds. Tea is one of those villages."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. The mission details in her scroll didn't match the current situation of Tea at all and health checks do not even require a team of medic, now she understood the reason. They will be sent there as medical backup and the mission scroll she received earlier was just a semblance in case it fell into the wrong hands. This only means it was something truly important.

"A few days after the attacks, Kirigakure was infiltrated by Akatsuki allies, the Taka."

Sakura snapped her head to look at Tsunade in disbelief. She knew Taka had joined the Akatsuki but they were inactive members of the circle. They had not acted these past few years. Why now? Voicing her confusion, she was responded with a strict reply,

"It seems like the Akatsuki are trying to lure us out and fight them in their territories. They knew that if news of the infiltration reaches the ears of Konoha, we will be forced to send immediate backup and we did."

Tsunade reached out for a few papers on her desk and continued,

"Our squad stationed in Kirigakure stopped sending their weekly reports until yesterday. This was what we received."

Sakura stepped forward and took the paper Tsunade hold out to her. It was the photocopied version from the original. It consisted of six lines.

_Leaf station was attacked by the dead. The dark storm is heading towards Konohagakure. The successor of the sixth Hokage candidate lives amongst once deemed wise. Do not let the fox out of the bag. The copycat works in the shadows of the Cherry Blossom. Let them tread the water._

The message was simple and easy to interpret. She knew all the codes and reference the message held. The third line however was information outside the mark since it was in a larger font size. It was purposely placed there to confuse enemy code breakers. She nodded. However, Tsunade wasn't finished. She continued to talk,

"Sakura, I hope you know about our current situation with the power high above."

Getting the hint, Sakura immediately strengthen the genjutsu Tsunade had casted around the room and added her chakra as support. Tsunade smirked feeling proud of her student's ability.

"Good. Now that we're hidden, we can talk freely."

"My lady, I assume this was not sent to the council?"

"No, it wasn't. Now that it's clear that Danzo's men are amongst them, we're able to plan out the counterattack but it won't be easy. We're still under their control, we have no clue of their motives and plans and we're running short of valuable ninjas. Our undercover agents are working very hard to get information. Curse those marriage treaties. I could use Tenten as our offense right now."

"And the Special Squad?"

"-is completely out of my control. They work for the elders and only them. Do you see the problem now?"

Sakura nodded. Most of the ninjas were exploited and used to the council's content. They were no longer leaf shinobi. They were the council's shinobi. The change was becoming more and more apparent; a lot of ninja began to question their own loyalty. Civilians filed a lot of complaints caused by the laws while new ninja-in-training were taught to be loyal to the elders rather than Konoha as a whole.

"Danzo's successor? I never knew he had a son." Sakura commented.

"He was in ROOT. He brainwashed his own son to work in his army and know that he's dead; his son will try to get what his father had wanted. Sai is all we need right now but the elders put him under surveillance. He was one of them so why not trust him? I know for a fact that all ex-root members are reinstated."

"Sai betrayed them, Lady Tsunade. His loyalty resides with us now." Sakura defended her teammate.

"Damn it. _The root is reforming; keep tabs on all ex-members so we can stop them._ They **are **the Root!"

Tsunade slammed her hand on the table creating a small earthquake. The mahogany table cracked under pressure due to her brute strength. Sakura, unfazed by the outburst, could only agree with her.

"I still don't understand one thing. Why did they request back up from me, Kakashi and Shikamaru?"

Tsunade's expression turned sombre.

"I have discussed with Aoba and Shikaku about this. It seems like they want to use your connections with Naruto and the Leaf as medium to negotiate with Taka about the Akatsuki; Kakashi with the same reason. Shikamaru is a good strategist. He knows how to handle these situations. We also speculated that maybe you will be used as bait to lure them out but since Taka had infiltrated them that sounds a bit ridiculous. "

Sakura's anger peaked all of the sudden. The word 'medium' and 'bait' didn't fit to her character at all and the concept of it just pisses her off. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from an oral outburst. She let Tsunade continue.

"Furthermore, Kirigakure had demanded you before as a trade for alliance. You are valuable to them in every aspect but it's the medical skills of yours they want. They need your lab skills to help them research about this new strain they obtained from Orochimaru's snake."

"A strain?" Sakura asked to which she was answered with a nod.

"The strain is believed to be able to enhance one's growth spurt. They managed to prove that alright. They already tested them on some ninjas. The result was positive. However, lacking certain DNAs and skills, they were unable to control them. Now the strain is becoming aggressive and threatens to cause infections. It also eats chakra reducing one's ability. I bet all the money I've got that they need you to create a cure for the mutant strains they've created."

"Has it spread?"

"No. Thank god they were smart enough to experiment it in the dome."

The dome Tsunade mentioned was the famous highly protected medical lab where the Kiri scientists mostly run dangerous experiments on viruses and other similar projects.

"But Tsunade-sama, why not you?"

"Hey, kid. I'm the Hokage. I don't have time to travel. I need to watch them old people from taking over my village."

Sakura's mouth formed an 'O' in understanding. However, she still lacks information about her true mission. After asking a few more questions about the current situation, she finally asked about the mission details.

"Your task is to go to Tea and assist with their healing. The rogue ninjas were already chased out and one in our custody. We sent him to Ibiki for interrogations. After the completion of your first task, proceed straight to the second task."

She threw a mission scroll into the air. The pink haired kunoichi caught it and began to read. She bit her lip upon reaching the details, her hands turned to fists.

"You still have time to reconsider, Sakura." Tsunade offered seriously.

Sakura shook her head. She was determined to see Sasuke, not just to bring him back to Konoha but to prove him that the annoying cry baby he used to know had matured and grew stronger than ever. If the mission was to take him out, she would not pause for even half a second like she did the last time. Sakura knew her soft heart would give him all the chance in the world if he chooses to change back to the right side but somehow, she knew he never will want to. He had chosen his path.

_And so have I…_

"Tsunade-sama, I accept."

* * *

"Shikamaru-kun!"

A pleasant squeal sounded from behind him. When he turned around he was engulfed in a bear-like hug. His thoughts immediately filled with the memory of the Cherry Blossom Festival a few years ago when a girl with the same namesake of the beautiful seasonal tree had jumped on him the very same way. He quite liked that hug and couldn't help but wished for more ever since. He knew he had put her off with his constant negativity but he couldn't help being flustered and unresponsive when she's around. The only reaction he could give was probably the same reaction he would've given off to other girls except with a little more attention, exaggeration or slight embarrassment on his part… or a lot. He was ready to die when Chouji and Ino had found out about his crush; they had used every opportunity they got to tease Shikamaru about it. He never liked it when people pick on his weaknesses so he had practiced his self-control and emotions. He could now proceed to interact with Sakura without the constant jam in his usually quick mind and its weird responses.

"You're not grumpy! That's good."

The beautiful woman exclaimed girlishly when Shikamaru had just slightly smirked after she jumped on him.

"Nice disguise, Sai."

The beautiful lady in front of him smiled. Shikamaru extended his hand for the man (now a woman) to take.

"Thank you, Naruto taught it to me."

"He taught you the Sexy Henge?" Shikamaru asked receiving a happy nod.

"Impressive…" He commented, smirking. He would've bumped fist with Sai but it would be very weird for a lady to do it. It was a guy thing after all and the last thing they want was to blow Sai's cover. He wasn't supposed to be in non-public areas and do suspicious activities anyway now that the elder's men were on his back.

"Where are we heading too? This dress itches."

Shikamaru laughed, shook his head and replied,

"The Forest of Death. Neji and the rest are waiting for us there."

Sai nodded and chatted loudly talking about their possible future as husband and wife. Shikamaru grinned and played along trying very hard not to laugh and break his cover. He knew it was a bit of a stretch but not many knew about his personal love life as he was very protective of it so it was safe. Besides, he slept with different women countless of times before so it's not really surprising to find him with a girl in hand.

He wasn't promiscuous or anything but he was a guy and no guy could get away with raging hormones unscathed. Furthermore, he was a ninja and sometimes the stress is just too much he had to resort to the last thing in mind. With the advice given to him by Genma, he went to clubs and prey on beautiful women willing to please him. Being the male chauvinist he was, he had at least offered them out on a date before doing anything else though it never really flow that way. There were plenty of girls who were okay with one night stands they don't bother to go on dates. That's the not-so-troublesome part he likes about it.

"_What about Sakura?"_

Chouji had once asked him. Chouji was a one-lady-facility-only kind of guy so it was clear he opposed Shikamaru's behaviour. The shadow user sighed and explained to his best friend that he and Sakura have nothing between them so it doesn't really mean anything. It's not hurting anybody. Besides, Sakura herself had gone on dates with other men and he didn't really give much of a thought about it. He was slightly dismayed but respect that she has her own life to live for. Most of the guys she dated were also those he considered appropriate so he really have nothing to say. Plus, it would be weird if he go all "stay-away-from-my-Sakura-or-I'll-cut-your-scrotum-off" about it. That's for Lee and Naruto to deal with; Sai too if he was dragged in by one of the idiots.

"We're here."

Sai said his voice no longer soft and feminine. He had terminated the jutsu once they were inside the forest hidden from everything. Shikamaru checked his surroundings and went to the north as he recalls the coordinates of the meeting place. A few monster bugs tried to attack them but they were easily brought down. The eerie and dark atmosphere of the forest didn't affect them much because they have been in worse places than this. It was just a walk in the park to them. Shikamaru thought about the double mission he will go to in a few days and tried to plan it all out in his head. The penalty he received was actually a real mission in disguise. Obviously the Hokage was not in the same boat with the council. He had been specifically ordered to write different reports of his soon-to-be missions during the briefings.

_Life as a double agent is troublesome,_ he thought.

Now that he was a Special Squad member and had declared he was against the council to the Hokage, he was finally revealed the most prized information he had been looking for and was now a proud member of the Hokage Force, a secret organization formed by Tsunade to fight the unnamed successor. He now was granted access to the blood files people outside the organization are not allowed to touch. Heck, they don't even know it exists! But of course, it all just happened yesterday after he got out early from the hospital so he still lacks recent intelligence from the inside. All of the Konoha 11 (minus Tenten) was in the Force so they had given him updates of what they had learnt. He somewhat found it ridiculous that he was the last of the 11 to be offered a place in the Force but of course, he was in the hospital for a long time so he understood why. He didn't regret all those time spent with Sakura but he did regret the time wasted for doing nothing and now he have to work twice as hard to cover what he had missed.

After 15 minutes of walking, they finally reached their destination where a group of shinobi was waiting.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update. I'm not even gonna give a lame excuse like 'my computer broke' or 'my dog ate my laptop' or something like that. I'm just going to tell you the truth. I had to fight an alien invasion and the rise of robots last weekend. It was terrible. I had to save my family so we ran down to the basement. The WiFi didn't reach the tiny room we were in so I had to write manually on a piece of paper. When we finally came out, it was OK again so I wasted no time continuing this story and typing it all back in.**

**I apologize for the delay.**

**Another thing, I just realized the spoiler alert I gave last chapter was not answered in this chapter so I guess you have to wait for another one! *sorry***

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**Kissa**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **

_No beta._

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Naruto. ** Do own Naruto I not. Naruto own not do I.

* * *

**The Enemy**

"You're kidding me! Taka? **The** Taka infiltrated Kirigakure?"

A male with red triangle tattoos on both of his cheeks questioned ridiculously. His pet dog, Akamaru growled deeply feeling his master's inner turmoil. Aoba nodded after sending a fleeting look towards Neji.

"Yes. It seems like they have the village under control."

Kiba grabbed his hair in frustration as if trying to rip it off of its roots. Shikamaru who was perched on a thick branch of the tree above them sighed lazily while Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Neji, Naruto, Sai, Hinata, Shizune, Kurenai, Kakashi, Hiashi and a few other nameless members were all gathered around a serious Aoba down below. Observing the scene below him, he was not surprised why Kiba was thwarted by the information. He had just returned from his duty in Kirigakure a week before the infiltration. If he had stayed longer, he'd probably have the chance to fight alongside the squad in the Water Country's hidden village.

"Man… How come I didn't know about this?"

Aoba cleared his throat and said,

"It was classified information. The council ordered none out of the board to know about it excluding the two divisions I mentioned earlier."

Shino who was standing next to Kiba placed his hand on the dog master's shoulder to calm his slightly agitated state. He knew his teammate's hatred of missing out in action despite how deathly that action is was overpowering him. Lee who was on the other side of Kiba patted his back before pumping his fist in a determined manner claiming,

"This is something youth like us should know. It is time to take this matter into our forever burning hands."

"Why, Lee. I do not know you can manage a fire jutsu." Sai quipped.

"It is a metaphor, my friend. A metaphor of the will of fire that burns throughout our-"

"The Taka, as we discussed earlier…-" Neji interrupted flashing a warning glance to Lee for being too loud in a supposedly quiet meeting.

"-…had challenged us in a way. They predicted our immediate interference to which we acted. The backup squad fought, provided resistance and weekly reports gathering enough info to send us a final message."

He passed a note around for the whole people in attendance to read. They read the message in silence. Lee gave a gasp while Kiba shot Shikamaru a jealous look. Shikamaru already knew what the message was. He had received his mission briefing earlier and gathered enough information for the future mission he will dutifully lead with Sakura and Kakashi. He had spent time with the Hokage beforehand to know the news that will be delivered in this meeting. His attendance here was merely to announce his participation.

"A final message?" Chouji repeated confusedly, hands and mouth free of snacks.

"We haven't heard from them ever since."

Hiashi, who had his Byakugan on along with the other two Hyuuga, regarded the news as a minor setback promptly pulling the attention back towards the issue at hand.

"The message had stressed a point. The third line- I confirm this piece of intelligence."

All of the sudden, Hiashi gave a shuddering cough and gasped for air surprising most of them. Shizune quickly rushed to him and braved him by her side while a worried Hinata looked on. She pressed a healing hand behind his back, gave a light tap and he recovered within seconds. Noticing the confused and surprised looks on many of them, she explained that every board member were placed a seal at the back of the tongue to hold them from betraying any information. Sai's face darkened in contrast of his usually smiling face while Naruto absentmindedly rubbed his throat as if feeling the same pain Hiashi had felt and Neji secretly wished Hiashi had finally reached understanding of the gut wrenching feeling to be bounded by a mere insignia.

Kakashi swiftly took lead for the Head of Hyuuga clan,

"Danzo's son, known as Koukai, is puppeteering the council by means of threats and blackmail. Root ex-members were also reinstated to aid his plot."

Eyes darted towards the pale man's direction standing leisurely a few steps away from them. Sai gave an awkward smile raising his hands in a retreating manner and declared,

"I rejected the offer."

"And they left you without a scratch, huh?" Kiba commented suspiciously.

"Ah… no. I'm sure in a few hours my ink clone would disappear and then the Root ANBU in charge would raise the alarm."

Kiba regarded the awkward man shrewdly before sending him an 'I'm-watching-you' look.

"So this Koko guy-"

"Koukai." Aoba corrected.

"Yeah, him. Well, what does he want?" Naruto questioned.

"He wants Lady Tsunade's position." Kakashi replied.

Naruto gave a snort.

"Yeah, right. We all know that the only guy that'll take over the old lady's office is me!"

Shikamaru flicked a small twig down onto Naruto's head. Ignoring the yell from the loud blonde, he shoved his hands into his pocket to retrieve a cigarette. Truth to be told, he was not interested in this meeting. He already knew most of what was to be delivered and was much more concerned about the absence of more than 10 Jounins from their post which were only covered with clones or in Kurenai's case, a sneaky genjutsu illusion. He trusted their abilities but he was still wary. The ANBU had been very watchful these past few months. Despite his laidback manner, he kept his eyes wide open, mind and body ready for action. Furthermore, his body was itching to go back to the Hokage manor and get his hands on more of the Force's informational scrolls and papers.

"By holding the village's safety in his hands, the elders are forced to bend to his wishes. Like Danzo, he excels in genjutsu and uses that to his advantage. If I'm not mistaken, he drowns them in their darkest fear and uses several other forcing methods. Not to mention, all the decisions they had made in the past would be revealed to public if they fail to cooperate; for example, the Uchiha massacre and the Hyuuga affair."

Kakashi explained sneaking a glance every now and then to the oldest Hyuuga in the group who seemed uncomfortable about the information disclosed despite his best effort to maintain a calm façade. He continued,

"The alliance, treaties and arranged marriages are mere distraction to blind us about his real intentions. He's trying to make it seems like the council is making a good effort to strengthen Konoha's forces but what he's really after is a stronger Konoha when he will finally decide to take over. It also takes people off from any suspicions about his involvements. The burdens of all these laws however made our people hold grudges against the elders. Exactly what he's after, I presume."

Hiashi nodded confirming Kakashi's words. It was true. He himself had suffered under the burning stare of the heartless man. Hiashi knew if someone like him rules Konoha, the world will come to an end no sooner than devil set his foot on the ground. That was why he agreed to cooperate with his nephew and provide help even if he was risking death. The Sharingan wielder continued,

"Assuming his plan materializes, it would be up to us to fight and resist before the ceremonial Hokage appointment. By the time this happens, most of our top shinobis would no longer be connected to Konoha seeing that he majorly uses intelligence and power trade as agreements."

His eyes travelled from each and every one of their faces to see if they were still keeping up to him.

"The people traded here can't be trusted. They could be spies for all we know even if they had sworn loyalty. A smart plan I must admit. " Kurenai commented earning a nod from the half masked man.

"Whoa, now hold on a sec."

Naruto interrupted the flow waving his hands in front of him, shaking his head in confusion then tried to clarify the situation himself.

"You mean to say, this Koko guy makes ninjas like us marry other people in other villages or countries to make us friends when really he just wants the power from that other country and at the same time the other country make the guy married to one of us to spy for them? And-and, that he's making them old people of Leaf take the blame and look bad to us? 'Cause man I just found out that old man Homura and his gang is being controlled by Koko who's actually Danzo's son!"

Naruto expressed exasperatedly.

"I guess that's a translation in idiot language of what Kakashi just said." Kiba snickered.

It took both Lee and Shino to restrain the fuming Naruto from charging head first into the canine-like man. Aoba silenced them in attempt to continue the meeting. He only has an hour more to spare before his clone in the office would give out.

"Regarding the Taka, we are aware that they are associated with Akatsuki so we have another enemy to deal with."

"Just a guy named Tobi or Madara. No big deal." A nameless masked member of the meeting replied offhandedly.

"The dead members are revived." The lazy voice drawled from above.

All eyes snapped to him. Shikamaru sighed heavily and looked sharply at the sky avoiding all the attention on him and elaborated,

"My last mission, I fought Kisame and Itachi. They seemed pretty alive to me."

Dreadful silence followed his words. Many regarded him with an unbelieving expression upon their tired yet alert faces. Both Naruto and Kakashi coughed and cleared their throat in an avoiding manner when Shizune snapped her head towards both of them, knowing their participation in the same mission Shikamaru mentioned.

"Boys?"

Naruto chuckled awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah. Shikamaru is right. I think I fought Deidara. I can't remember 'cause Kakashi-sensei knocked me out in the middle of the battle."

Kakashi confirmed that he spotted Deidara and Kakuzu. Everyone groaned and expressed their shock simultaneously. Chouji made a quiet remark about how the dead should just stay dead to which Kiba agreed. Hinata gave a shuddery response while the rest of the older ninjas remained calm and passive.

"Konoha's enemy is Koukai's enemy." Hiashi told them cryptically holding in the cough threatening to choke him.

Shikamaru nodded.

"That's why they're sending us to Kiri to talk Taka out of Akatsuki using team 7 as leverage."

The whole assemble started to discuss noisily trying to make themselves heard above others about the mission. Shikamaru took this time to run over his theory about the mission of Kiri assigned to him by Tsunade approved by the board. Without the Akatsuki hell-bent on destroying Konoha, Koukai's task would be easier and Konoha would be free of threats but confronting the red clouds was not a good idea. It would trigger immediate war chain; definitely not something both the Force and Koukai want. It was insane. Thinking in a Shogi game manner, his pieces, representatives of Hokage Force and Konoha civilians, are faced with a double offense. It was his turn and he only has defensive pieces to fight and maneuver around the trap to reach the King (in which he imagined as the Akatsuki). Koukai however is the main offensive piece that needs to be eliminated first in order to reach the King. It was such a pesky task.

"Guys, listen. Inoichi is currently handling a rogue ninja that attacked Tea. Apparently his mind was under a genjutsu and was forced to act as the genjutsu commanded. We believe the genjutsu was casted by non other than Itachi Uchiha seeing how the last memory was of the rogue ninja looking into Mangekyou Sharingan."

Aoba told them. Another round of discussion continued. Shikamaru stared into the distance absentmindedly rubbing his slightly scared ribs while inhaling the addictive essence of nicotine. His mind reeled back to the mission briefing he had late last night after his immediate exit from the hospital. Tsunade had covered from A to Z about Koukai, Kirigakure and the Akatsuki. Unfortunately, his mission was not only to help out Sakura and Kakashi but to run his own investigation about Koukai. It is once again an S-rank mission due to the possible direct contact with S class missing-nins.

"_This is a two sided mission. Your task is to negotiate with Taka and by all means try to disengage them from Akatsuki. Kakashi and Sakura will assist you in the negotiation. However, I have a feeling this will turn into a fight so be on guard at all times. At the same time, your teammate will retrieve a scroll from the Medical Chief. The data concealed within is very valuable. I expect you to guard it with your life."_

He rubbed his temple and frowned as he remembers Tsunade's next words.

"_Listen, Nara. I apologize for dragging you out of your resting hours so early after you've just got out but Sakura is just a Chuunin and this will be her first S-rank. Her rank is not befitting but since she was the one requested and we have no other left, I have no choice."_

_Shikamaru's eyes darken but his face remains apathetic._

"_Should anything happen to her, I will personally hold you responsible." She growled threateningly as if it was his fault she was chosen as his teammate in the first place._

Stupid women and their emotional ties…

He partly blames Tsunade for being the first person to make him promise to protect Sakura. After that busty woman, more people came and requested him to do the same. Some even, offered payments and if he were lucky, death threats. He could never understand how Sakura manage to gain people's favor on her side but she did and it was giving him hell. Ever since he was signed to be a part of Team 7, he had been dubbed the 'most responsible one' by people around him. Well he had to agree because frankly, Naruto could not sense danger even if it's staring right at him in the face while Sai had somehow began to place himself under Naruto's wing to become more social resulting to more trouble. Why he thought Naruto as a social pro was beyond him, they were both inept when it comes to social skills -not that he could really comment on it, he was on the same level as them, a bit higher maybe but still the same.

However, Shikamaru need not be told twice. He himself knew that even without the pressure of others he would still shield the cherry blossom from any harm. He saw her cry numerous times and it instilled a feeling of uneasiness, desperation and hurt inside him- uneasy because he does not know what to do, desperation because he wants so much to stop those tears from falling ever again and hurt because it pains him to be able to do nothing to stop her from hurting, for not being the source of her comfort. Alas, who was he to feel that way? He was just plain Shikamaru Nara in her eyes.

"Hey, Shikamaru. It's over. We can head out now." Naruto's loud voice snapped him out of his deep reverie.

"You okay, man? You kinda spaced out a while ago."

The young man clad in black and orange asked him while Sai tilted his head to the side, his inky black eyes boring into his deep brown. Shikamaru just shrugged tiredly and dismissed them both before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"He's weird. Oh, well. I think I should get a bowl of Ramen and catch up with old man Ichiraku. See ya, Sai!"

Naruto exclaimed and ran off out of the forest with great speed that could put Lee to shame. Sai blinked at the spot Naruto had just occupied and sighed dejectedly. It seems like he has to play the girl who lost everything to a guy who doesn't appreciate her as he walks out of the forest this time.

* * *

Small calloused hands reached for a pile of newly sharpened kunai on top of a dresser and began to arrange them neatly on a special cloth designed to keep various weapons. After she was finished, she proceeded to recheck all of her medical and travel kit before laying out the mission outfit she was going to wear for tomorrow. At the crack of dawn, she and her team would move out and head to Tea village and proceed to the most important part of the mission.

Confronting the Taka.

Sadness filled her system at the mere thought of meeting Sasuke. All of the sudden, her apple green eyes strayed to the photo frame containing the original Team 7 picture during their Genin days on the dresser. Her hand moved to reach for it but something in the back of her mind screamed immediately halting her action. Her body stiffens as she forced herself to retreat her outstretched hand slowly.

Sakura Haruno released a shuddery breath and sat on her King sized bed, her right hand clutching the shirt near her chest. A small whimper threatens to escape her soft pink lips as she remembers the face of her criminal ex-teammate. She held back her tears and shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind out of all the tainted memories of his betrayal but to no avail. There was no use denying him leaving her knocked out cold on the bench in the middle of the night still haunts her or not. It still does. No matter how much she convinced herself that she was way past that moment of being heartbroken and helpless but deep down she still feels the same. Her twelve year old self still cries and pleads for his return every night. She hated him. She hated him for everything. Why did she have to suffer for him? Why did she have to care so much for him? Why did she have to love him?

"Why Sasuke-kun?"

Uninvited tears cascaded down her cheeks. The sudden ripple of emotions made her heart ache. This was becoming repetitive. Every time she thinks of him, she would cry. Sakura felt so weak, so vulnerable, so… annoying. She laughed at herself. Sasuke was right. She was annoying. She now understood him more than she ever did before.

_Stupid..._

Where was the determination she had back when she was in the Hokage's office? Had she forgotten her vow to stop Sasuke from getting worse? Crying won't do anything and it shows weaknesses. Besides, she was a strong kunoichi and she believed in herself. If she wants to stop Sasuke, she would. If she wants to bring him back to Konoha, she would. If she wants to kill him... she would.

Slowly, she wiped her tears away with the hem of her shirt. After a minute, she recovered her steady breathing. Her eyes were red and uncomfortable from crying so she rose and proceeded to the bathroom to wash and get ready for bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow so she would need to rest. Furthermore, if she showed up in this state Kakashi would give her the look and keep her under his sight at all times and stay close to her disregarding her need to be alone. She knew he means well but sometimes her sensei and now, a teammate, could be really annoying just like Naruto. Nonetheless she loved those two knuckle-heads just as much as they loved her. Once she was finished, she turned off the light and tucked in to her cold bed leaving the window open so that the gentle breeze can flow into her room. She whispered her goodnight into the air and closed her eyes falling into a deep slumber.

The leaves of the big oak tree swayed a non-rhythmic flow with the wind leaving trails of kisses on the tree's surface and the man hiding in the darkness. As soon as the light was off, he released a small sigh and came out from the shadows he masters. He moved slightly closer to the window to see the pink haired girl for the last time that night before he goes back to his own place to make his own preparation. However, when his eyes fell upon her soft profile he decided to stall for a few more breathless moments. Hands in his pockets, he stood quietly in his comfortable posture on the thick branch dangling right outside Sakura's room and watch as the heave of the girl's chest grew steadier and steadier with every breath she took. Calm. She was finally calm. He had witnessed her pain once again and was glad that it was over. He had seen her cry a few times during his many nights of visiting and it had never failed to ignite the vexatious feeling inside of him. He was in many ways disappointed though he would never blame her for this. It wasn't her fault. It was his troublesome emotion kicking into gear despite the many training and effort he does to control it to the minimal.

It was at times like this Shikamaru wishes that Sakura would save a few tears for him... to feel for him. He knew she was still saving her heart for Uchiha hoping that one day he would come back and they could be together. It was in a way depressing for him to see Sakura like that. She tries so hard to hide her still existing feelings for the avenger but at the same time fighting her own feelings of useless sentiment that the Uchiha would maybe want to come back home someday. Ridiculous. What can Konoha offer? What can **she** offer?

He clenched his fists. He inwardly cursed himself for ever thinking such a thing. Sakura, as delicate as she may seem, was tougher than him, Naruto and Tsunade put together. She was the epitome of strength and love. She was a believer. Unlike her namesake, she was not seasonal. She exists to remain. Maybe that was why he was so drawn in to her in the first place. The first time he met her as a child, he thought she was pretty like the tree. Then she grew up wrong and mingled around with those drags fan girls of Uchiha and became so annoying. He was glad he never had to put up with that until the moment of the betrayal. He had thought her as weak when he had come back from the mission and apologized for his failure of retrieving Uchiha- she cried like the world was coming to an end. But… then… something happened. She gradually changes and became much of a stronger person. She was a formidable opponent; smart, strong and skilful. She still holds her heart on her sleeves but he guessed that was what made her…her. After the war, her abilities skyrocketed at an accelerating rate. She even grew prettier and grew into her womanhood perfectly. Though she wasn't as curvy as Tsunade or Ino but she became a true woman. He saw that well enough.

_Sakura… __I could give you much more…_

He thought. Shikamaru's mouth curved slightly upwards into a small smile. He could now, could he? Then why hadn't he made the move? He had his chance for years but he never grabbed it. If his life was a game of Shogi, he would be losing or in a best case scenario, a stalemate. He was one of those who see the openings and chances but are scared to move in case he would make an unseen mistake.

"I just don't think it's time yet…"

He whispered into the cold night trying to convince himself. He sighed. Sakura had shifted numerous times and had finally rested into a comfortable sleeping form. Her blankets were pulled down to her hips. He formed a seal and allowed his shadow to creep up the windowsill into the room. The hand-shaped shadow tugged the blanket back up covering her small sleeping figure. His shadow retreated as he gazed at her softly. It's been almost an hour now. He should head back soon if he wants to sleep.

As silent as a ninja could get, he jumped off the branch of the tree and heads back to the Nara compound; his steps barely a whisper in the still moonlit darkness of the Leaf village.

* * *

**New character introduction- Koukai as the current nemesis. He sounds dangerous doesn't he? In the next chapter, I might include a snippet of how Koukai handles the elders and Tsunade while the 3 man squad (Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru) is in Tea. **

**Shikamaru shows his inner conflict/feeling towards the oblivious cherry blossom. Will he ever make a move? Will she finally truly see him? **

**God, I myself can't answer that yet. It's nerve wrecking trying to type this story up without knowing how well I'm doing. The lack of reviews is really bringing me down. I get followers on my story and a few favourites but it would really help if you review since I look forward to read your opinion more than anything else. Plus, it would boost my confidence and gives me encouragement to update faster. I thank Melyss and an anonymous reviewer for the only words I hear for my last chapter. **

**Well guys. I hope you know what to do. Read, review, follow and enjoy (or even favourite if you think this story is awesome).**

** Love you guys. **

**Kissa**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

_The title changed. I deemed it better if it was called "The Game" rather than "The Healing" because the latter didn't really fit the story well, I think. _

_Thank you to those who reviewed. I appreciate your opinion. That is why I decided to grant a part of your wishes! Yes! More ShikaSaku but be warned, it is not the ShikaSaku you would probably expect. I hope you understand that I am trying to build the relationship from scratch, not just throw in the relationship out there in the open. It won't be fun if that's the case so bear with me. I'll try to spice it up more in the future. There is also a small list of soundtracks/background music for some scenes on my profile if you wish to indulge more into the feeling that I was feeling when I wrote those certain parts so I suggest you go check it out (though currently, there is only one so it's not worth checking out but if you like you could). It's not much but yeah, it's just that I guess. _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

* * *

Sakura and a group of medic-nin consisted of a male and two females were already waiting at the front gate. He noticed that she was talking exuberantly to a teenage boy from his distance. He casually approached them dragging his bag lazily with the usual bored look on his face. When he reached the team, he was greeted with a loud chorus of good morning. What was good about waking up at 5 AM when he could spend an extra hour sleeping? He just grumbled a simple 'morning' dropping the 'good' and leaned against the gate casually waiting for the only member not present, Kakashi. He purposely avoided Sakura's eyes by closing his own hoping that it looked languid enough to stop her or anyone from talking to him. Shikamaru was not in the mood for bubbly conversations that was sure to be troublesome with any of them in the wee hours of the morning. He could be in bed right now, sleeping without a care in the world. However, fate decided to play with him and a cheery voice from a somewhat familiar person said something to him loudly. He quickly decided to ignore it but something was breathing in his face. He opened his eyes only to meet a tanned smiling face so close to his that their noses were almost touching. He frowned then growled,

"Back off."

The boy laughed awkwardly and took a step back scratching the back of his head. He shot a timid glance towards Sakura and patted his wild hair in an attempt to tame them before getting back to Shikamaru.

"I… want to apologize to you for not carrying out the mission well. I mean, I shouldn't have fainted during the fight but that guy hit me pretty badly and bah! That's no excuse! I'm just so sorry I didn't do the mission properly team leader!"

He apologized profusely bowing down a number of times. Shikamaru just stared at the boy lazily through half lidded eyes. Sandy hair, brown eyes, tall and lanky and a very trusty aura with the medic logo sewn in his Jounin attire; this was the medic assigned to his team during his last mission. He didn't know the medic that well and had just called him as 'the medic' but he knew he had just recently been promoted to Jounin. He was young for such a rank, 15, maybe 16 years old. He got a boyish feature and looks childish. Very much like the old Naruto in a way.

"Troublesome." He said.

"I understand that I caused the team to fall out and as a medic I should do better to assist the fight. I hope you can educate me further in the walk of a Jounin." He bowed again.

"Recite the first three medic ninja rules."

The medic boy spluttered when he was requested to do such a thing.

"Ahh… yes, sir. Um... No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines. No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end. No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon."

Shikamaru leaned comfortably back to the thick wooden gate, closed his eyes and muttered loud enough for the boy to hear,

"Consider yourself educated."

Sakura giggled. Her peal of laughter was like music to his ears. He resisted the urge to take a peek at her by trying hard to blend in with the big wooden gate.

"It's alright, Tenji. He's always like that."

"But Sakura-sensei, someone could've died!" He protested.

He didn't see her but he could hear her light footsteps making its way towards him. Slowly, he curiously lifted an eye open just in time to see Sakura standing right next to Tenji looking at him with an almost begging look. He assumed Sakura wants him to assure the kid that he actually did fine. After all, he was under her wings and being such a softy she was, she couldn't let the boy continue his following days with guilt. It was somewhat obvious she holds a great deal of endearment to the boy. It almost sparked the jealousy in him. Almost.

"I know Tenji but what's past is past. We're lucky no one died. Plus, you tried your best. That's what really matters." She told him in a motherly way when Shikamaru didn't say anything.

"I'm grateful we even made it out alive but I still wished there was something I could do instead of just being knocked out the entire mission. Imagine if someone did lose their life…" He trailed off sadness evident in his speech.

"Grow up… Death comes with being a shinobi. There are times when death is hard to accept, but if you don't get over it, there's no future. Besides, we're not stupid enough to go out there planning to die. Some things just happen and it's a drag." Shikamaru drawled finally deciding to help Sakura out by quoting what Tsunade had once told him.

Tenji fell silent. He stared at Shikamaru apprehensively. A few seconds later, he nodded determinately and thanked him before bowing down and rushing to his medic-nin friends. He closed his eyes back again and tried to rest his mind once more but Sakura interrupted the process.

"Thank you, Shikamaru."

He gave a small 'Hn' worthy of an Uchiha as a response. If he had opened his eyes, he would see Sakura gazing at him affectionately and Tenji shooting him an envious look before masking it with an enthusiastic smile claiming the attention of his female comrade talking about their mission in a loud bubbly voice breaking the still morning air.

15 minutes later just as the sun was about to rise, Kakashi finally showed up (as usual giving his lame 'a cat crossed my path of life' excuse) and they wasted no time heading out of the village. They ran the first few miles before hopping up the tree from branch to branch once they've reached the thick old forest. It would take them a day to reach Tea at a fixed speed. No one spoke a word throughout the journey so Shikamaru used this opportunity to strategize ways to confront the Taka ignoring the constant flashes of pink.

* * *

Neji was on the training ground practicing his Taijutsu with the log. He would usually train with Lee but since he was busy accompanying Tenten on her day off, he resorted to go training alone. He was still feeling the slight disappointment when Tenten had rejected his offer to train with him so his hits and kicks were slightly more powerful than usual. The young woman in buns never failed to leave his mind during his entire practice and that somehow egged him further to hit the log with the most energy he could muster. She kept giving excuses whenever he tried to talk to her saying that she was busy with almost everything and it annoyed him endlessly. If she wasn't truly busy with the marriage arrangements he would think that she was purposely avoiding him but even if that was the case, why? It wasn't right to treat him like this especially with all the effort he's making to bail her out of her precarious situation. No matter. She's probably too depressed and needed time to rest after her continual travelling from Leaf to Land of Lightning. Lee would assist her in many ways. They were afterall bestfriends.

Sensing chakra nearby, he finished his attack with a small but powerful tap completely destroying the inside of the thick log. He pulled himself from his fighting stance and stood normally inhaling a large amount of air while waiting for the person to reach him patiently but still kept his Byakugan on.

"Neji, I would like to have a word with you." Hiashi said.

Neji turned to face him and nodded signalling him to start talking.

"We, the Hyuuga elders, have agreed to side with you. You have our whole support." Hiashi informed getting straight to the point to his relief.

His eyes flickered with something akin to happiness. He regarded Hiashi with a thankful look and bowed down saying his gratitude.

"I hope you understand how dire this situation is for the rest of the Hyuuga elders to grant you more power. The clan's fate rest in your hands now."

"I assure you Hiashi-sama; I will give my life to protect the clan and will try my best to smooth this conflict out. He will be brought down in one way or another."

"And I hope this way does not make you lose your loved ones."

"I hope not." Neji agreed.

The younger Hyuuga stood there waiting for Hiashi to continue deliver any more news or whatever it is that was important. Hiashi proceeded to ask him a question.

"And how is this mission carrying out?"

By mission he meant the plot to foil Koukai's plan.

"I have sent Kakashi about his and Shikamaru's part. Kakashi will handle the Taka while Shikamaru will find out more about the hidden man while he's on his mission. I have reasons to believe he was well known in the water."

He said cryptically receiving a nod from Hiashi.

"Let us discuss the progress in somewhere more private."

With that, the two Hyuuga moved and headed off in order to escape the prying eyes of spies who had just arrived at the scene seconds after Neji's words. They will be safe once they were in the Hyuuga compound.

* * *

Bubbling and roaring, uninterrupted, the splashing waters created a steady pattern of endless rhythm. Like a wall trying to block out the sounds of the world behind the waterfall, it roars louder and louder. Down below the heavy falls of water trails off to a calm and steady flow of the river lapping gently at the lips of the river bank where Sakura's group was resting a few steps away filling their empty water canteens with cool refreshing aqua. The pink haired medic-nin was once again talking to Tenji about medical jutsus while a wary Shikamaru looked alert and careful waiting for Kakashi to come back from his scouting. The other members simply sat down in the shade of the trees to relieve their tired legs occasionally stretching to prepare for another long run towards Tea village.

"No way, Sakura-sensei! That's impossible!"

"Believe it!" Sakura assured the young boy using Naruto's favourite choice of word.

Sakura mentioned Tenji to come nearer. He obliged eagerly waiting in anticipation. In one swift movement, she pulled out a kunai and stationed it on the smooth skin of her forearm before swiping it forcefully cutting the flesh. Blood immediately oozed out flowing down just like the river. None of them was unfazed by the gory of it since they were long since accustomed to such a scene. Sakura performed a complicated seal and a sudden burst of chakra erupted in her system searching frantically for broken cells and malfunctions. She concentrated hard on the cut she purposely did and forced the chakra to mend it in an instant. The other medic-nins gathered around them looking very interested but eyed the medium size cut doubtfully. Surely she was just kidding about the Creation Rebirth technique? If Tsunade really was teaching her the sacred ninjutsu then she'll be the second person to ever learn and master it! When the injury glowed green, the flesh started to sew itself back together in a rushed process creating a very small steam from the friction of chakra against broken cells. Most of them gasped in awe and disbelieve. It was miraculous for it to heal without any contact from the palm, at a fast rate, only with chakra and it looked,

"Awesome!"

Sakura chuckled and high-fived Tenji. The entire medic team gushed at her abilities and questioned further wanting to know about the one of a kind jutsu. Sakura of course humbly told them she was still trying to get a grasp of the basic and could only manage small injuries like cuts and bruises.

"Plus, it uses a lot of chakra." She concluded.

"Exactly why you shouldn't demonstrate that skill. We're moving in 15 minutes." Shikamaru interjected.

The shadow master had been secretly watching the whole affair from his position and was actually impressed above all else trying so hard not to gawk at the display of jutsu. That branch of Immortality jutsu wasn't something you would see every day. He had never thought Sakura would be able to handle the technique even the basic in just a couple of years for it was an S-ranking jutsu that holds a category just on its own. She was way too humble to say that her basic was still rocky but the truth was that her control was already too good. She had deemed it lesser because her mentor's standard had always been perfect and accepted nothing less than that.

Now, he was no medic but the Nara clan was abundant with all kinds of medical intelligence so he believed that he was right. Plus, Tsunade's frequent visit to the Nara lab and facilities with her endless share of subjects only aided more to his judgement but he felt that if she practices more, she could definitely do more than just repairing broken cells without using the Mystical Palm Technique. The jutsu's true purpose was to create new cells instead of repairing them but the stage comes after in the training. Well, that's what he thought anyway. Again, he wasn't a medic to begin. Something akin to pride glowed inside of him. He was proud of Sakura's achievement even when he played no part in her development.

"Well, that's enough time to recover." Sakura countered feeling slightly exhausted from the drain of chakra.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to show off her skills but hey, Tenji was excited about it and so was she. She had just succeeded the basic (a mega insane basic) of the Creation Rebirth and she totally deserved bragging rights but still remained humble for the sake of the Jounin's pride. However, Shikamaru didn't seem impressed at all. She knew he was watching the whole time but his face was just as plain as a blank piece of paper. Well, maybe his eyebrow did quirk a little in surprise or amusement (she didn't know, she could never read Shikamaru's expressions well) but the rest was just blank and serious attention, bored even!

"Recover from what? You guys didn't fight anyone did you?" A voice sounded from behind the bushes.

Kakashi showed up from his scouting with the infamous Icha Icha Paradise book in his one hand, another hand in his pocket walking in casually as if he had just returned from a stroll in the park.

"Sakura-sensei was just showing us this cool healing technique! You gotta check it out! Show him sensei!" Tenji replied jumping up and down like a small boy excited to see the second wave of his new favourite show.

Shikamaru shook his head and protested with finality in his tone of voice,

"We shouldn't be wasting time. Come on, we better get to Tea before sunset."

Sakura sighed and just shrugged when Tenji looked at her with a disappointed face. The other members meanwhile tried to persuade him to let them rest for a few more minutes. Kakashi chuckled amusingly. He then reminded the team about the mission and its importance ceasing Shikamaru's trouble of keeping the young medic team in line. He had to admit, this was one of the most reckless team he had ever met but that was probably because this was just a B-rank mission to them. However, for Sakura, Shikamaru and him, it was considered an A-rank since it was joined with a following S-rank mission. It was not exactly something he was looking forward to but he wanted it over as soon as it started for various reasons; the main not wanting to see anyone get hurt while the second being him able to go back home and indulge himself with the Icha Icha series.

"All clear?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi.

The copycat just nodded and went to the river to fill his canteen with water. Shikamaru heaved his backpack and slung it behind his shoulders. He noticed Sakura was fumbling with the strap of her bag yanking it forcefully with an annoyed look on her face. He sighed and went to her.

"It's stuck!" She explained without asking.

Shikamaru knelt down and tried to pull the strap too. It was stuck in between the zip and the zipper line. Unlike Sakura, he slowly and calmly pulled it out instead of ripping the bag apart. Sakura chuckled bashfully and thanked him before stuffing her items inside it. Shikamaru stood up, his face aloof and held out his hand to Sakura pulling her up once she was done. He felt his big calloused hand tingled when he took hold of her much smaller and softer one. She dusted herself and moved towards the others. When Shikamaru turned around to his leading position, he saw Tenji with an unmistakably dark look etched across his face. In a flash, he replaced it with a toothy grin and went over to Kakashi.

_Problem, kid? _He thought raising one of his eyebrows.

The boy maintained his grinning face but his eyes stared sharply at Shikamaru. He didn't know what to make of it but a dozen of theories flashed through his mind in an instant. He shook his head dismissively. He was overthinking it.

Ignoring the boy, Shikamaru gave the team a brief plan ("Run all the way. No more stops.") before continuing on their journey to Tea. The members were once again pulled into silence as the whistle of the wind rushed past their ears and the bare silent thumps of their feet against solid ground became their music throughout the rest of the journey.

* * *

The shadow gripped the man's body tightly preventing him from escaping. Trying to at least get a few seconds to his advantage, the tall and lanky man flexed his meagre muscles trying to overcome the power of the shadow. The shadow's master appears to be unfazed by the attempt but tighten his shadow's grip nonetheless. With a bored look, he told the middle aged man before him that his effort to escape was futile and there was nothing he could do with his sheer strength to fight his jutsu. The man just huffed and flexed his muscles once again pulling and tugging his body away from the shadow but to no avail. He remained stationed to the spot.

"Let's just get this over with. It's a drag to keep you here. What do you know about Koukai Shimura?" He questioned indolently rubbing the back of his neck as he regarded the man before him.

"I told you! I don't know anything!" he cried.

"Yeah?"

Shikamaru turned his head pointedly towards the various scrolls containing information both personal and political about the subject lying atop the messy desk. Feh. Did the man really think he could get out just by claiming ignorance?

His shadow slowly gathered strength to travel up the man's body to the base of his neck clutching it painfully.

"Let's try this again. What do you know about Koukai Shimura?"

"Ngh… fine, I'll tell you!" The man choked.

Shikamaru eased his grip to let the man talk.

"He was a Root member assigned to assassinate Amegakure's rebels. Yahiko paid my team to keep tabs on the Root's activities while they were in Leaf. Koukai… he was the leader of the squad. He helped orchestrated the mission."

Shikamaru questioned more.

"I don't know. I was only the delivery boy."

"Where are your team?" He questioned further.

The guy gulped and averted his eyes elsewhere since he had no other control of his body. A pained expression flashed across his face momentarily before fading back to the stressed guise.

"Dead."

There. A simple answer. Shikamaru moved to the desk, the man following his exact movements, and shifted some of the papers.

"You kept this?"

"As a record. Just in case." He replied cooperatively.

Shikamaru quietly analysed all the information in a thinking position. The man was still copying his movement feeling awkward with the pose.

"I swear that's all I know. This all belonged to my former teammate. Besides, I'm retired so it's really not fair to do this to me." He defended without any probe.

Well, he sure does give in easily. Shikamaru turned a scrutinizing eye towards him and found truthfulness. He didn't really give much detail about the Amegakure mission and the scrolls and papers seemed out of his character. He looked weak but agile so it doesn't seem like he's the type to be in direct contact with the subject but more of a messenger. If the scrolls were really his, then he would've probably kept it at a better, more secure place rather than this old tool shed. It was clear he wasn't a good ninja since this type of information should be protected. Either that or he wasn't one of the important people in that team who just happened to be there for service.

"How many were there?" Shikamaru drawled a question.

"The Root? Or my squad?"

"Both."

"There were about 10 members of Root and 20 of us."

That many? It must be one hell of an assassination.

"How did an inept man like you get involved?" Shikamaru asked not bothering to be courteous.

"Hey! I'm not- ngh!"

Shikamaru's shadows choked him again. He's really not in the mood for denials. A few long seconds later, he released his grip and waited for the lanky man to answer. The shuddering man glowered at him.

"I don't know."

Great. He's back to resisting. Life was just not fair. While he's here dealing with this nameless man a few miles away from the village, Kakashi, Sakura and the medic team were resting in a small inn provided by the Tea's daimyo. They're probably having fun sleeping right now while he's stuck with his part of the mission. But no matter, this will soon end. Plus, tomorrow they would have a busier day dealing with the injured before heading straight to Kiri so he really shouldn't complain this early but of course, he's Shikamaru Nara. Nothing would ever stop him from complaining.

_Troublesome._

"Okay, let's wrap this up." He said aloud.

The man before him released a shuddery sigh. Shikamaru made him swear to keep everything that happened in the tool shed a secret if he valued his life. He even drew out his kunai and stationed it threateningly above the wimpy man's throat to make sure the man understood how serious he was. He took some of the scrolls and 'thanked' the nameless man for his forced participation. The man let out a wheezy breath when Shikamaru finally left his small compound. He hastily took all the remaining scrolls and shoved it under the loose floorboards before sealing it shut. He never wanted to encounter a man like that in his entire life anymore. He had met Leaf ANBUs before but this guy; he was the scariest one he had ever met. His aloof expression, his dark emotionless eyes, the black shadows that could probably break his limbs easily in one swift command…

He shuddered.

_Never, ever mess with a Leaf Ninja,_ he thought.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

_Another chapter finished. This is kinda impressive. My first story to ever reach chapter 7. Congratulations to me! LoL._

_Who thinks Tenji (another new character introduced) will be Shikamaru's competitor for Sakura's attention? I think I do. Omg, what am I thinking? I write the story, I should know! Sometimes I just forget that. Haha. _

_About all these OCs, I would like to clarify that the casts of the real Naruto grew up and lives in a different time period than the Shippuden arc so it's perfectly understandable if they meet new people along the way, right? But rest be assured, there won't be many of them or else the story will go all weird. I also would also like to inform about the new chars in Shippuden like Killer B or whoever won't be making appearance in this story because I haven't been up to date with the series so I don't know what the characters are like. I would just use the original casts for the time being._

_Oh my, Shikamaru was really unpleasant now wasn't he? I think it fits him personally because he's trained to become a strategist and a brutal assassin plus his goal is to get into ANBU so emotions and gentleness and whatnot is not really an option for him now is it? He'd probably just think all those stuff as troublesome anyway. But wait! He's all mellow for Sakura! A guy praising a girl (even inside his mind) is already a huge mental affection, you know! What do you think?_

_And a tiny of Neji/Tenten dilemma shown to make clear of a major event that will happen in the future. Hiashi meanwhile agrees to help Neji and risk the clan's status and safety for the sake of Konoha. How dangerous can Koukai be for Hiashi to make this big decision? The mystery!_

_Reviews make me super happy, so if you leave me one, I'll be forever be grateful! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next update._

**_Kissa_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

_I was having the infamous writer's block so I really didn't know how to continue writing. In the end I decided to give the plot a little break saving the 2000 something words for the next chapter and write a bit of ShikaSaku for the sake of entertainment (and not being able to write anything). I read through the previous chapters and I realised I was making Sakura a little too quiet and not her usual fiery self. I'll make that up in this chapter I guess and I'll show off her medical expertise in addition to the personality._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sad truth.**

* * *

Green chakra flowed from her hands into the patient's abdomen healing the bruised internal organs threatening to fail without further medical attention. The previous medic attending this patient had done a good job sustaining the internal bleeding reducing it to just a minor setback in his many injuries. She felt her chakra eased the swollen cells inside and provided supplementary chakra to help increase the rate of recovery. Once she was finished, she moved to another bed and helped apply a special ointment on the bruises of a man's body. Her cream covered fingers softly and gently brushed the broken skin making sure she didn't cause discomfort to her patient. She even added healing chakra as an extra boost to the healing process. Then she helped to repair the cracked bones in his body. The man muttered his thanks after Sakura advised him to rest.

She moved around idly checking other patients and satisfying their needs. They demanded much more attention because most of them were civilians. They withstand pain considerably lesser than a ninja could but thanks to the team before them, she need not go through the fussy ordeal. Most of the patients were now fully healed but still needed to be taken care of; a job for her team.

"Sakura-sensei, we have a patient with a third degree burn!" A female medic rushed into the room exclaimed.

"What happened?" She questioned feeling confused.

The fights were long over and the medic team arrived before them had dealt with most of the fatally wounded.

"Hidden explosive tags a few kilometres away from the village. Kakashi's taking care of it right now."

The pink-haired medic nodded and quickly followed her junior student into another sterilized room where a number of patients were moaning from their broken rest caused by the screams and wails of agony from a dangerously burnt patient. Two people were trying to calm him down pushing him on the bed feeling guilty for touching his scorched body that was causing him pain.

"Kaoru and Susuki, you take care of the other patients. I'll handle this one."

Sakura ordered mentioning the struggling medics to go and reassure the other scared patients in the room. She swiftly washed her hands in the nearby sink, dried them before placing two fingers on the patient's forehead sending strings of chakras to numb his pain receptions. The patient instantly eased down and stopped moving making it an easier task for her. She then proceeded to pump all of her healing energy into the deeply scorched body of her patient. He didn't look good. Half of his body was burnt showing gore red blood and charcoal black flesh. He must've been in direct contact with the explosive tag to be in this state. It was a miracle he was still alive in this room albeit his condition a dying guppy.

The third layer of the skin was beginning to return back to its original state. She pumped more chakra and proceeded to the other burnt parts. Now she was reviving the second layer of skin and flesh. The process was slower because reviving dead cells took more chakra and time to finish rather than just repairing broken cells. It took her an hour to finish the second part of the healing process. Her pale pink eyebrows furrowed in concentration when she reached the next step. Creating a new layer of non-existent skin was a different case altogether. Reviving dead cells were possible because there were still traces of DNA and other cell structures in the cell. It is however impossible to create new cells just like it was impossible to separate Kakashi from his Icha Icha books.

New cells needed to be reproduced by existing cells and grow at its own pace. The only way was to leave the patient to make his own cells naturally. There was nothing her chakra can do at this moment except rushing the process but that would demand a huge chakra supply and concentration. If the process was interrupted, the patient's skin will be deformed and could cause him a type of skin cancer. She could not risk that at all. It was against the rules and regulations of a medic-nin; to heal but cause another illness. So once she was completely finished with the most damaging part of the injury, she stopped and applies a special ointment to treat the mild burn and encourage the building up of new cells. Time will heal.

_Time will heal burns and cuts and bruises... and heartbreaks apparently. _She thought sarcastically.

Nonetheless, she wished her patient will get better and get out of the bed fast.

"Hey, Sakura-sensei. Mind patching me up?"

Sakura looked up from the sink where she was washing her hands in after treating her unconscious patient to meet the sight of a boy with a large clean cut across his held up palm.

"What on earth happened, Tenji?"

Tenji just laughed bashfully and scratched the back of his head with his uninjured hand. A black haired ninja who looked about the same age of Tenji came from behind him with a scowl on her face holding a katana in her hand.

"The idiot played with Thunder when I **clearly **told him that it was dangerous." She growled and smacked Tenji with the hilt of her katana which Sakura assumed was called Thunder.

"I was curious, alright? Geez…it's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal because the blade is poisoned!"

Tenji's face paled considerably when he heard that. He chuckled slowly and gasped,

"That explains the lack of oxygen."

He dropped to the ground.

"Idiot." The girl muttered before hoisting him up onto a bench since all of the beds were occupied.

"It's just the normal poison. Nothing you can't heal, right?" She inquired.

"Of course! Just give me a few seconds and he'll wake up soon."

The girl did a double take and eyed Tenji deliberately. A few seconds later she asked,

"Well can you fix him but make him sleep for the entire mission?"

Sakura laughed and shook her head amusingly. This girl definitely hold some sort of a dislike towards the boy but to be concerned about his poisoned state showed the affection she have for him.

"I can't promise that." Sakura replied with a smile moving to the fainted boy and tapped his chest with chakra so that he could breathe again.

She then proceeded to retract the poison from the open wound, heal it and wrap it in a bandage while the girl leant on the wall with an indifferent look upon her face twirling a kunai in her hand. When she was finished, she left the still sleeping Tenji with the girl to check on other patients in the village.

Tsunade wasn't kidding when she said the Akatsuki went on a rage. Heck, they even let rogue ninjas join in! Almost no one in the village was left unscathed. Of course the children and most of the elderly were saved when they hid in the underground but most of the men and fighters of Tea had been wounded and severely injured and Tea has a large population despite being a small country. It was a wonder how they managed to live in prosperity before the attack. Anyway, patients were placed in groups in order to create a system similar to a ninja hospital so that the healing process would be easier. The fatal in the hospital, the medium rank injuries in the clinics and the smaller injuries in public facilities like the school's infirmary or the town hall. The hospital was overflowed so the burnt patient had to be sent to the clinic she presumed. Plus, she was there at the time so it made sense to take him to her. Luckily, the rogue ninjas had the decency to leave some of the public facilities alone like the hospital, clinics and the school. They destroyed everything else so there were at least places to support the wounded.

She exited the room with a clipboard in her arm. She decided she would visit the school's infirmary next where a number of injured students and other civilians in the village were rested. But first she needed to stick around just in case more victims from the explosive tag traps comes in so she just stayed behind the small counter of the clinic checking the progress reports of the many patients. She assigned a nurse to the patient with the burns after giving her the prescription list. Half an hour later, a Chuunin came in and informed the tags were completely removed and destroyed so further trouble would be at bay. She took it as a cue to head straight to the infirmary as she mentally planned.

"Akihabara-san, I'm going to the school. Man the counter please." She requested to the worker of the clinic.

The school was only a walk away so she walked at a steady pace observing her surroundings. The land of Tea had lost its scenic landscape leaving only burnt pillars and broken walls standing. The green turned brown and the air still smelled of ashes. Everything had been completely destroyed save the eastern part of the village where the farms and supply stores were at, thankfully. Residues of burning embers shimmered from the desolation where the once mighty jungle of wood and steel stood. She could see some of the still standing villagers working to build back their homes and shelter. There were Chuunins and Genins from her own village helping out as well. She knew for a fact that Might Gai and his new Genin team were in town helping them with 'burning passion of the youth'.

"Hey, slow down…" A deep voice drawled from behind her.

Sakura stopped and turned around to find Shikamaru walking to her, well, dragging his feet to her.

"Hello, Shikamaru. You look so lively today!"

Shikamaru ignored her sarcastic comment and mumbled his favourite word under his breath earning a chuckle from Sakura. His feet were aching from the long run. He, unlike the rest of his team, hadn't stop and rest for the night when he reached Tea. He instead went straight to the location where his resources had told him to go to. His resources at least didn't fail him since he had met exactly who he wanted albeit receiving minimal information. But it didn't stop there; he had to go to four more different locations where supposedly, more informants of Koukai were available. Unfortunately for him, they had long since abandon their post and moved elsewhere making his travel to all of those places a waste of time, energy and precious sleeping time.

"Bet you enjoyed the pillows and soft mattress, woman." He grumbled grudgingly.

"Ah, yes. We did. Only we slept on the floor… in our sleeping bags not on soft mattresses." Sakura replied shooting him a sharp look.

Shikamaru sighed. Of course. The village was in ruins. The inn the Tea Daimyo had offered them was probably a building with no roof.

"You slept alright?" he asked feeling worried on the inside though his face remained passive.

"I managed to sleep somehow. You?"

"Yeah, sure. I slept while I was running."

That sarcastic reply earned a laughter form his teammate. He smirked and tried to place his hands behind his head comfortably as they walked towards wherever it was they're going. A sudden ache shot across his spine, his shoulders tensed and screamed in objection. Shikamaru winced and grumbled letting his arms fall back down so it would hurt less. He guessed his muscles were worn out from all of those running and standing. His legs were already protesting against moving. He remembered the dunderheads he encountered that tried to steal his meagre supplies. They were easily beaten but during the small fight Shikamaru had somehow twisted his back accidently. It was his own fault but that didn't stop him from blaming it on the world the entire way back to Tea Village.

"You alright, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked worriedly when she noticed his displeasure from the movement he had attempted to make.

"I'm just tired, that's all."

"Did you rest properly a few days before the mission?" Sakura probed feeling suspicious.

Shikamaru, as far as she knows, could stay up and fight for 3 days straight with the help of chakra and energy pills provided that he was on a perfect mode (non-affected by fatigue or health condition) and still have enough of energy left to at least lift his hands up. She was pretty sure he took some of those when they separated. Her mind suddenly came to a theory. She suspected Shikamaru didn't fully sleep and rest during his excused absence from work resulting to his current burnout.

"I guess." He lazily replied slouching lower when his back feels uncomfortable.

"Your back hurts. Probably from bad sleeping position, lack of sleep and malnutrition. Your chakra regulation also seems to be disturbed. What did you do when you get out of the hospital?"

"I train." He replied shortly.

"Strained pupils and dark eye bags not to mention the bloodshot eyes-"

"Nice observation skills…" he muttered under his breath.

"-When was the last time you had a solid 6 hours of sleep?"

"Probably a month ago… or two months ago."

"But all those time in the hospital? What did you do?" Sakura asked ready to nag at the lazy ninja knowing the answer would be something rebellious to her medical instructions.

"I strategize." Another short answer.

"Shikamaru! I told you to sleep! Not overdo yourself!" Sakura said frustratingly.

"Hey, I spent a lot of time in bed ok? Besides, I don't think that **thinking** is overdoing myself." He defended.

"You can develop insomnia if you continue to do this."

"I sleep fine, Sakura."

Sakura eyed him doubtfully before telling him that he should head straight to the inn and get some sleep. When Shikamaru replied that he didn't know the way, Sakura told him that he could rest while she's at the infirmary. He could sleep on the bench or on a table. She knew he could even sleep dangling upside down on the ceiling and still rejuvenate. Sleeping was his best skill afterall; a skill he hadn't been polishing based on the conversation slash interrogation they're currently having.

"And I could give you a massage if you like." She offered baiting the lazy Nara.

"Aa… that'd be nice." He agreed.

_Nara, you just scored big. _Well, he wasn't going to reject that offer now was he? He'd be the biggest idiot in the world if he did. He remembered the last massage Sakura gave him when he got an extreme muscle cramp from a rigorous training. It was the only one he had ever received from the pink haired woman. Man… the way she hit the right spots were unforgettable. He was flooded with euphoria when she flowed her chakra into his chakra points easing his tensed muscles calming his nerves. It was one of the best experiences he had ever felt.

"We're here. Why don't you go find an empty classroom and rest? I'll get back to you in a minute. I just need to check on something." Sakura told him as they reach the entrance of the high school.

"Fine."

They went separate ways when they entered. A nurse greeted him and asked if he needed something. He asked if there was an empty classroom he could go to while waiting for Sakura. Unfortunately for him, the only available class was at the topmost floor. He cursed wonderfully the entire way up. When he reached the class, he wasted no time and plopped down on the nearest chair and took a familiar sleeping pose.

* * *

It had been an hour since Sakura left Shikamaru when they reached the school. Sakura felt bad leaving him sleepy, aching and worn out especially after he just got back from his part of the mission. If she was not mistaken, her pineapple headed companion probably travelled up to 200 miles in three days. Shikamaru did inform them he was continuing his journey to the south end of Tea country which was very far away. He must've used up a lot of chakra for his quick travel.

After she finished checking on the last patient in the room she quickly went out to look for Shikamaru after informing a nurse. The school was big but it wasn't a surprise she could feel Shikamaru faint chakra on the top floor. She has a good tracking ability though not as good as certain people who were way more experienced than her and of higher ranks. When she slid the door open, she was revealed the sight of a sleeping Shikamaru with his head resting on his arms on the desk. He was unconsciously wincing probably from the muscle pain. Sakura smiled despite feeling slightly worried about him.

"Shikamaru?"

The tired man groaned in response. Sakura went to him and nudged his shoulders.

"Wake up."

He ignored her turning his head deeper into his strong folded arms.

"Wake up, Shikamaru!"

"Leave me alone, woman." He grumbled.

"Fine… guess I won't be using this massage oil today, huh?"

"Says who?" Shikamaru opposed instantly waking up at a surprising speed.

The pink haired medic laughed at his reaction. Shikamaru seemed desperate enough for a chance of relaxation. He was never a man that would submit to this kind of treatment. He was too proud of a person hiding it behind his 'I'm too lazy for that' attitude. She remembered that one time they had a physical Shikamaru had actually ran and hid in the Forest of Death in fear of a murderous Ino with her dangerous medical tools. That was the time when Ino was still in the medical division of course. After she quitted, Shikamaru became much easier to convince to come and undergo health examination though she distinctively remembered him using his shadow technique pinning her to the wall when she approached him with a large syringe of vaccination. She didn't know what he was more afraid of; her or the big terrifying needle.

"Take your shirt off."

"Here?"

"Unless you want a dozen of girls ogling at your toned sexy back."

"You think I have a sexy back?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed him down on the desks aligned to fit his tall height. With a grunt, he did as he was told. Shirtless, he laid on the hard woody desks; his feet almost dangling at the edge, his head supported by his arms turned to the side to watch Sakura. She was already performing hand seals he recognized as the Mystical Palm Technique. A moment later, her hands were pressed against his back. He could feel her soft small hands moving slowly and rubbing gently in an attempt to calm his tensing body.

"Ease up, Shikamaru. Help me out here."

He hesitantly obliged and slowly released his strained shoulders. Instantly, he felt the tingle of her chakra mingling with his own. A feeling of warmth spread out from her palms and across his back and neck making him feel the goosebumps. She applied more pressure but the friction was uncomfortable for him. Sakura could feel it too so she took the bottle of massaging oil and applied it generously on his back. She continued rubbing on his shoulders and the base of his neck. Within seconds, the ache that haunted him since yesterday began to recede and replaced by the wonderful sensation of her chakra travelling all the way down to his toes.

"That good?" Sakura asked.

_You have no idea, _he thought. He just nodded lazily.

"You know, Shikamaru. It would be easier if you just come to me and told me that you have a back problem."

"Feh, I do not have a back problem." He denied.

"Sure you do. Every time we have a physical you're always the one with the worst back injury."

He lifted his head and turned to give her a glare with his sharp eyes. Sakura just responded by shoving his head back down into his arms.

"I mean seriously, your performance can be affected by it. Your posture doesn't help either."

"My **posture**?" He said incredulously.

"Yup. All those slouching and crouching are really bad."

"So what?" He grunted and her hands moved lower on his spine.

"Slouching causes various back ailments and results to easy fatigue. The muscles that support the back will eventually get tired and cause the spine and shoulders to sink lower, worsening your posture." She told him moving her hands lower almost to the small of his back.

"Since posture is predicated on muscle support of your spine and your legs, as you age your posture could get worse. Age can weaken muscles, making it harder for you to use your strength without stressing yourself. With this problem, you can have trouble being a good ninja in terms of physical health." She continued helpfully as she put more pressure on the most problematic part of his back body.

"Sounds like words from a women health magazine."

"You should read them sometimes." Sakura parried.

"Sakura, my back is fine." He told her.

"No, it's not. You always rub the back of your neck and spend restless nights." She argued releasing pressure from his back gently prodding certain spots with her thumb.

She didn't need to know the cause since she was the main reason why he stayed up until morning just to watch her sleep. He breathed deeply, allowing his muscles to finally become flexible. He felt a gentle swell of her chakra focusing at the pressure point at the top of his lumbar vertebrae, and then her hands returned to the nape of his neck.

"I've been observing you these past few years, Shikamaru. I'm really concerned about your health. And you smoke… I'm really sorry, but it's really not helping your situation. You're getting tired easily and not really what I would call a life full of energy."

Sakura pressed her thumbs against a point at the nape of his neck and Shikamaru immediately felt a flood of chakra swirl down his spine. The sensation made his hair stand on ends and caused him to suddenly tense. No, it wasn't just the massaging; it was the fact that Sakura was telling him that she had been observing him. He never notices her 'observing' him since he was the one always observing her from a distance. It made him feel uncomfortable and weird. It was like a grip somewhere inside him making him feel jittery.

"Calm down, Shikamaru."

"Smoking helps me relax." He told her defending his habit.

"I know but maybe you could… stop?" When she felt him flinch she hastily continued,

"Or- or you could maybe at least reduce the number of smoking. From twice a day to- I dunno, once a week?"

Shikamaru suddenly laughed. He laughed so hard he was shaking. What an absurd request! Surely she knows how hard it was to reduce the amount of smoking once one was addicted? But of course, one can try. However, Shikamaru wasn't an avid smoker. He only smokes when he felt a cause for celebration, when he was frustrated or after he had visited his dead teacher, Asuma-sensei; situations that rarely happen except for the last part. He visited Asuma once a week when he has the time. In average, he only smokes about once or twice a week. Sakura doesn't seem to know that based on her timid suggestion.

"I don't smoke much, Sakura. Twice a week at most, I swear." He assured her.

"Oh." Was all she said.

When Sakura continued her massaging pace, the strangeness subsided into comfort. Something amazing was happening with his and her chakra as they danced together making him feel heavy. Every muscle in his body was pampered with heated sensations. He refused to let himself fall asleep despite feeling very drowsy. With a deep breath, he concentrated on the feel of Sakura's fingers gently squeezing his flesh, loosening tendons and calming nerves as her chakra steadily pulsed throughout his lean but muscly body. Without much of a thought, he closed his eyes, sank deeper into his arms and began to doze off.

Sakura could feel his breathing slowed down considerably; a sure sign that he was asleep. He must be very tired, she thought. She could've stopped right then and there but she was worried about the muscles surrounding the chakra point on the lower of his back. It was greatly tensed even when she had relieved them earlier at the start of the back rub. It indicated that he maybe twisted his back or had done something to upset that area. She could tell it was recent judging by the feeling of the stiff muscles and hostile chakra. The chakra point on his lower back was blocked and dysfunctional. She could completely heal it but that would require a sudden jolt of electrified chakra that would no doubt shock him wide awake.

"Shikamaru?"

No reply. He was deep into his slumber.

"I'm going to unblock your chakra point right here, ok?"

She leaned down and said softly into his ears as she pushed a thumb on the middle most point of his lumbar curve. Shikamaru, as expected, did not give any reply since he was far away in dreamland. Oh well. The worst that could happen was him jerking right up screaming that the sky is falling. She steadied herself putting her left hand on his right shoulder and the other hand focusing the charged up chakra on her thumb preparing to release it.

"Really, Shikamaru. I'm gonna release it now." She threatened.

A snore.

"Grrr… Don't say I didn't warn you, you lazy bastard."

He mumbled something incoherent and shifted before falling deeper into his sleep.

"Release!"

It all happened so fast. The minute her electrified chakra jolted into his chakra point clearing the blockage, Shikamaru shot up turning around trying to take hold of Sakura's neck out of reflex but Sakura's hand had slipped from his oily shoulders when he moved making her body fall down. Both of them froze in shock with disbelieve written in bold across their faces. She wasn't supposed to let her hand slip. He wasn't supposed to lift his hand up. Sakura's chest fell directly in front of Shikamaru's face. Shikamaru's hand accidently caught one of Sakura's breasts.

Time froze, breathing stopped and the door swung open.

"Hey, Sakura-sensei thanks for healing…me…"

Tenji walked into the room and stopped after a few steps; his eyes widened at the sight before him. Shikamaru and Sakura's heads simultaneously snapped towards the gaping boy. Deathly silence immediately fell upon them. It was a few seconds later that Tenji finally said something.

"You touched her squishy."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

_Tada!_

_I think this chapter is horrible. I have no idea what I was thinking. I didn't even plan this! It just came in a rush and I just typed it all like a maniac._

_Sakura is so underrated in the anime (in my eyes anyway) so I decided to show a bit of her talent. Of course I don't really know how medical things work so I just assumed and made it all up. If it's wrong then tell me so I can edit it and make it better with more sense in it. A little bit of Tenji scene just to play with a comedic role in this fic since Naruto is not around. Don't worry, once they're back to the village Naruto will get his title back as the funny one._

_Sakura and Shikamaru bickering! How lovely... Sakura sounds a bit afraid when she broached the smoking subject right? Well, that's because she's kinda worried that Shikamaru might take offence because the reason he smoke was because of the death of Asuma-sensei in a way to honour him and she didn't want to sound like she was disrespecting the idea. She was only worried about his health after all._

_And the massaging scene was not supposed to be sensuous! (Denial) Well, I tried. _

_Lol. I've given a massage to a guy before so I thought I could write it out using my experience as an idea but it didn't turn out great I think. I really don't know how to describe the movement and the feeling well. I just hope that in the future my writing will improve so that readers can at least imagine what I'm trying to convey. What about you guys? Was the scene okay? I almost fell off of my chair laughing when I wrote the last lines. I really don't know what came over me._

_Anyway, reviews make me super happy, so if you leave me one, I'll be forever be grateful! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next update._

**_Kissa_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

* * *

_The plot is going around slowly I know but right now I'm focusing on the development of the relationship as the easy mission progress so that anything ShikaSaku-ish won't be too sudden and out of place in the future chapters. I believe in the following chapters then we'll run along with the bigger scenes including the confrontation and most importantly the Akatsuki featuring Sasuke Uchiha. There, spoiler alerts. Small spoiler alerts._

_A big thank you to my reviewers, not a big group but man I love you guys so much. LOL. I swear if there weren't any reviews, not even one, I'd probably stop writing this story and move along with my "Astronomy Tower" fanfic. So thanks once again. To 10th Squad 3rd Seat, yes Shikamaru's back is sexy. He is a ninja and is physically tall, lean and fit. Not bulky but he has all the right muscles and packs in the right places. Can't really describe it so I'll leave your imagination to it. To Less Plastic, your advice helps. You were right. Once I finished reading one of my favourite fanfic the block just disappears. haha. And this chapter will explain Tenji in last chapter, kinda. SoKira, one word. SQUISHY! Random reviewers, thank you!_

_Now on with the chapter!_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine to begin with.**

* * *

**Go to Sleep Shadow**

Dark expression, sharp glare and heavy breathing; the 16 years old brat was starting to creep him out. The only thing missing was a deathly weapon or the picture of a murderous psychopath would be perfect. He on the other hand just stood there, still shirtless, with a frown upon his weary face. He really didn't know what to make of this boy. It's like he has a split personality of some sort! First he was all childish and juvenile with his stupid _'you touched her squishy' _comment and then he was all _'your dare befoul the innocence of the heavens sent from high above with your filthy hands'_.

Okay, maybe those weren't exactly the words Tenji had spat out but it was another version of it at least. The funny thing was the transformation from nice Tenji to psychopath Tenji happened **after** Sakura had embarrassedly exited the room blushing furiously stuttering her apologies and excuses. And he didn't even have the chance to apologize! Really, that put him in a tight spot filled with guilt and humiliation to both himself and Sakura all thanks to the emotionally unstable kid in front of him. But then again he really was feeling disturbed with the boy to even have the capacity of being annoyed with his untimely interruption.

"Sakura-chan was your ulterior motives right? That's why you were both alone in this room. You wanted to take advantage of her." Tenji accused venomously staring directly into Shikamaru's brown eyes.

"Now listen kid, it wasn't what it looks like. She was just helping me with my…Wait. Sakura-_chan_?"

Since when did he call her with that suffix and isn't he a little too young to even call her that? Immediately his eyes strained hard regarding Tenji with a calculative look analysing the situation. This kid… his infatuation towards Sakura was no joke. It borders or had already passed the obsession line.

"It's what I call her when we're off duty."

Ok, now the kid was insinuating that he and Sakura were having some sort of a relationship outside their line of job? Dude, that's unhealthy. _That's rich coming from a guy who stalks her 24/7, _he thought. He tilted his head to the side and tested the waters.

"Aren't you a little too young for her?"

4 years is not that much of a gap he knew but it was worth the teasing.

"Do not evade my question." He hissed.

Oooh, scary. If he was Naruto he'd probably be recoiling and hiding behind Sai right now. He smirked in reply and rubbed the back of his neck out of habit. This kid is entertaining. He moved his hands and dug into his pants pocket. His smirk widened when he saw Tenji tensed expecting him to draw out a weapon like a kunai or a shuriken. He instead pulled out a box of cigarette taking one stick out popping it languidly into his mouth. He snapped his fingers creating a fiery chakra to light it up. Then he took a deep breath of the hot nicotine essence and blew out the smoke with a style some call the smoker's swag.

"Want one, kid?" He offered throwing the box into the air for Tenji to catch.

"Sakura-chan hates smokers." He growled throwing back the box of cancerous stick to the shirtless Jounin.

"Aa… she never mentioned that… not while she was _massaging_ me."

He caught the box and shoved it back down into his pants pocket, baiting the young boy with his words implying something more than just the ordinary 'massages'. Sure enough the boy's expression turns shades darker sending him a multiplied deathly glare. He have to admit this boy have what it took to scare people off with only his looks. Shikamaru was not swayed but his fight or flight mode instinctively turned on at the sight of the angered medic in front of him. He laughed silently at the troublesome situation. Just a while ago he was enjoying a nice 'talk' and a wonderful treatment and now he was purposely yanking strings of an impulsive little medic nin.

"You bastard." Tenji growled his hands now in fists.

"Take it easy, kid. I'm not going to fight you." Shikamaru said taking another whiff of the addicting nicotine taste.

"Scared of losing?"

"Nah, I just don't want to trouble Sakura with another mangled body."

In a flash Tenji charged up towards Shikamaru with his chakra infused fist. Shikamaru simply sidestepped him, grabbed his own discarded shirt and vest and walked smoothly towards the door ignoring the stumbling boy after his missed attack. Tenji recovered and charged from behind once again. This time his hands had actually made contact. He smiled triumphantly but not for long. The body he just hit turned into a log; a simple substitution jutsu. Tenji turned around wildly looking for the older leaf ninja but found nothing. Suddenly, he felt Shikamaru's faint chakra already outside the school leaving the parameter. He ran to the window and looked down to see Shikamaru mock salute him with two fingers before walking away calmly like nothing had ever happened.

Tenji, despite feeling livid, frowned sadly. It was obvious who was winning the newly started game. His head drooped down low. Who was he a weak little medic Jounin to claim his right of the cherry blossom from Captain Shikamaru of the Nara clan; a very strong shinobi with undeniable strength and power on par with the strongest of Konoha?

Sighing heavily he turned from the window and started walking away. For the sake of his love, he would continue to pursue her and train until he was strong enough to protect her on his own despite the rivalry which he doubt Captain Shikamaru would even regard it as.

* * *

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama?"

"What is it, Shizune?"

"It's the Council. They're demanding to see you."

"Tell them I'm busy."

"I did but they kept on insisting."

"Ignore them."

"Tsunade-sama, please. You can't delay this meeting anymore. They're already forcing through the door."

Of course she didn't mean that quite literally but the elders were really starting to act in order to get the current Hokage attend the supposedly monthly council meeting.

"Gas them, put them to sleep. Just do whatever. I'm not seeing them. Not yet."

"But-"

"Go, Shizune."

She told the worried black haired assistant with a tone of finality in her voice. Shizune sighed dejectedly and said, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

She exited the room feeling anxiety building up in her system. What excuse should she sell the elders now? They would no doubt be more furious than ever when she comes to them only to relay the information that the Hokage had once again refused to sit in the meeting. She wouldn't even be surprised if they personally come and drag the busty woman into the sacred room the next time around. Her heels clicked bouncing of the walls of the silent corridor, her heart thrumming speedily from the developing anxiety. When Shizune reached the grand door of the Hokage meeting room, she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. She knocked three times and entered upon the greasy permission. She spent the hour trying to control an angry mob of old people from exploding.

_Tsunade-sama… I hope you know what you're doing._

Tsunade felt bad sending her oldest student and secretary out to the pack of angry old wolves but then who else was there she could trust to handle the group? Like Tsunade, the younger medic specialist knew exactly how to pull the strings when it comes to the elders though Shizune was slightly more affright and timid to play her cards right and often gets too flustered around them. She was not a woman with any diplomatic position anyway so that was perfectly understandable but should anything happen to her Tsunade would gladly pull out the ultimate "I am the Hokage and you listen to me" card.

Anyway, the reason she was refusing to grace them with her wonderful presence was because that stupid Koukai was finally showing up proud, bold and bald. He was exactly like his father; demanding, power hungry and very deceptive sans the hair. He had displayed his power on his first entrance alone. All the elders stood tall and proud despite feeling the extensive need to cower in fright. Tsunade was the only one who had actually attempted to fight back and argued over the table with him. The rest merely shook their heads in disapproval. In their opinion, Tsunade was acting recklessly because she has yet to stare deep into Koukai's activated bloodline limit. Like his father, he had stolen the Sharingan eye from one of the Uchiha long ago and with his abilities, he was able to enhance it. Those eyes were worse than anything they had ever seen especially with the powerful control of genjutsu. Scars covered every inch of his tall muscular body and he wore an eye patch to hide the one Sharingan he possessed, another eye grey and phantom.

But Tsunade was not deterred from one's skills, abilities and looks. She knew no meeting of the council would be count legal unless she or her representative was in attendance and even if they still progress, the United Allies (Suna, Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Iwa: Alliance formed after the Fourth Shinobi World War) will take action against it so until then, no Tsunade. She was hell-bent on getting the moral-less Koukai off of the party. He had threatened himself into the council. He had forced people to work under him. He had even used the people of Konoha and its resources for his own good-for-nothing purposes. He hid the fact but they knew of course. How stupid did he think they were?

Growling angrily she grabbed a hidden bottle from underneath the table and downed what's left of it. She had been drinking her worries away lately and it was alarming Shizune. She should be in her right mind if she wanted to fight the battle right. Tsunade have a high tolerance of alcohol so she believes she could stop before she gets too far, a point always proven wrong.

"Shikaku!"

An older version of Shikamaru Nara jumped into the office through the window. He bowed down and stood straight in attention.

"Reports." Tsunade simply ordered.

Two hours were spent with Shikaku filling her in with the reports of Koukai, the SS and the Force. Koukai, as she was well aware was already making himself known. News was spreading and they were having a rough time keeping it inside the compound of the village. The Special Squad was split up into three teams undergoing assassination missions; who, when and where were disclosed information. No one in the Force could get anything out of it because they were not in on it, the Root was and they were guarding the information very tightly. The Force itself was in a lockdown mode since many of the members were under constant surveillance and is currently out on missions hence one of the reasons why Tsunade refuses to leave her office to go up and attend the council meeting. They knew she was at a disadvantage of men and information. The updated report she received through messenger birds were not enough to be piled into one set of complete data. Besides, they were probably trying to pull her in into their agenda. Why not make it difficult for them, she thought.

"I suggest we wait until Team Kakashi returns. Our tasks would be easier with Shikamaru back."

Tsunade nodded agreeing. The absence of the strategist caused a hold up in their coup but it was necessary. Even with the master strategist here it was still unwise to execute their plan without further investigation and power.

"He's dividing us." Tsunade's deep feminine voice said.

"Koukai is on the same track of us. He knows what we're up to." He concluded, "Unfortunately." Shikaku added the comment a heartbeat later.

"How are the people?" Tsunade asked.

"Stressed and panicked. The curfew and territorial mark by the Roots are alarming them."

For the record, the elders under Koukai's order had enforced curfew and began separating the villagers by occupation and grouping to different parts of the village to avoid unification. Only those with permits (heads of the family) can cross certain places to get supplies and run errands. As for the ninjas of the village, they were given full permission eliciting hatred, envy and a form of fear to the villagers. It seemed to them it was as if shinobi was truly taking over and began to dominate the should be peaceful country. He was expecting rebellion judging from his effort to separate the people of Konoha. However, a lot of the Konoha's shinobis helped out the civilians deeming the regulations as a burden to the community foiling Koukai's beginning attempt of segregation. Some even went as far to raising propaganda against the council in a silent manner creating a somewhat underground operation against the veto powered group of elders.

"Konoha is crumbling to pieces…damn it." Tsunade growled.

"We can stop this, Hokage-sama." Shikaku assured.

"We can and we will. That baldy is going down even if it's the last thing I do!"

Shikaku nodded once appreciating the Hokage's determination.

"Shikaku, head back to the headquarters and send Team Kakashi and Team Gai a message. Inform them about our current situation as subtle as possible. They're still scanning messages from our hawks. Be as cryptic as you can. I'm sure your son will figure it out."

With a strict nod, he formed a seal and disappeared from sight.

Hopefully, Team Kakashi would not be facing any danger from their mission and would come back in one piece. They need every loyal ninjas for the upcoming confrontation.

It was all so unexpected. It has only been 4 days and yet the situation was already getting out of hand. When Koukai had announced the curfew, everyone was instantly alerted with the beginning of the takeover. Tsunade felt so weak. How can he do this to her village? It belonged to her and her forefathers. The village she rules for the Fire nation. Anger and fixed determination riled her to fight back. She will strengthen her grip on this village and never let go. The Force had originally planned it out under Neji and Hiashi's guide; the two who had the clearest view of the situation. Spy, get information and use the United Allies power to bring down Koukai and salvage the only loyal members of the council. However, when Koukai stepped out and acted the whole plan backfired. He had the council holding Konoha in. Now, it's up to the Hokage Force to save Konoha before it falls deeper into Koukai's hand.

* * *

Sakura was burning red the entire walk downstairs ignoring the quizzical looks and stares from her fellow working members. She rushed out of the building and headed straight to the edge of the forest away from the crowd and noise. Her heart was beating erratically inside she felt like blowing up! The pinkette clutched the shirt near her chest and tried desperately to calm her rapid breathing. It wasn't like it was a big deal anyway. It was just an accident; an accident where she fell over in a very suggestive position with Shikamaru's hand making an unfortunate landing on one of her mounds but an accident nonetheless. She wasn't going to make a big deal out of it even when one of her own junior had walked in at the most awkward time. It was just an accident she convinced herself. Just an accident. It meant nothing. It could've happened to anybody. It was perfectly fine. If Shikamaru apologizes, she would say it was okay and dismiss it casually. She wouldn't feel violated. She didn't want to feel violated. She didn't even feel a thing. Not even that tingle somewhere in her stomach. Not even that spikes of chakra somewhere in her nervous system. Not even that rush of adrenaline coursing throughout her whole body.

She shook her head and covered her warm face.

A chuckle from above alerted her of a presence. She snapped her head up instantly seeing a mass of black and grey, a vibrant orange in contrast of the whole ensemble. Eyes glued to his book Kakashi asked her in his smooth casual voice,

"Did something interesting happen?"

One grey eyebrow instantly shot up questioningly when he received a squeak. He lowered his book down fractionally and glanced down towards his student. Sakura shot up from her position looking half scared to death.

"K-Kakashi!"

The man jumped from the high tree branch and poked Sakura's forehead.

"What happened?" He probed playfully grinning under his mask. He was really amused to find his usually alert ex-student to be so flustered and easily caught off guard.

When the pinkette stuttered "N-nothing!" it immediately ringed the alarm. Keeping the teasing vibe he continued,

"Was Shadow involved?"

Sakura flushed deeper at the chosen nickname of a certain Nara clansman. Sakura caught herself in time feeling determined not to fall into Kakashi's trap and snappily replied,

"Pfft, no. What does he have anything to do with me?"

"I don't know, Sakura. What does he have anything to do with you?" He parried.

"Nothing!" Sakura exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air and marched away huffing like an angry bull.

Little did Sakura know the tree branch Kakashi was propped on before provided an eagle eye view of the forest and the school including the window of the topmost class where both she and Shikamaru had had their 'healing' session. Kakashi also caught a whiff of the massaging oil and thought that the massage he witnessed were actually more sensuous and pleasing than it looked. He was planning to search and reprimand the man that had, in his point of view, taken advantage of his precious daughter-like student which was none other than Shikamaru Nara. All he has to do is smell it out. He didn't get to go far because the man in question was already dragging his body towards him.

"Yo." The masked man greeted.

"Ngh, Sakura around?"

Chuckling at the lack of mannerism from the extremely exhausted ninja, he replied,

"She just stomped off into that direction." Kakashi pointed towards the main road.

Shikamaru was about to follow the way Kakashi had pointed but a deep serious voice calling his name stopped him. He blinked once and the grey haired man was already towering over him. Their height was only a few centimetres apart but somehow the current difference between them was staggering. Feeling like he was guilty of the sudden unspoken accusation the older man opposite him was relishing with his visible eye, Shikamaru cleared his throat and wasted no time defending himself.

"It was only reflexes. I startled her when she was healing me."

"Hmm… really now?"

"Sorry, sir."

Already he was feeling like the boyfriend who got his girlfriend home late and was facing the wrath of a disappointed father only he and Sakura were not a couple and Kakashi was not the father and the offense was somewhat bigger yet no more than returning the precious jewel home late. It was very awkward and not to mention troublesome so he decided to skip all the juicy details.

Kakashi of course did not know what exactly had happened because he was bored of just watching them having a silly argument he couldn't hear so he read his book instead. The next time he looked up, Sakura was looking rather embarrassed pushing herself away from the table while Shikamaru fell because Sakura had knocked them (he and the table) down. He concluded from his observation alone that Sakura was massaging Shikamaru when she pulled or pushed something to make Shikamaru to act in a reflexive manner that had offended or made her go all googly on the inside. He also noticed a member of their temporary team inside the room. He must've entered when he wasn't looking.

Whatever had happened he hoped it was something offensive to Sakura so he could have an excuse to pummel the lazy Nara deep into the ground. However, Kakashi was feeling very merciful at that moment and his instinct was telling him that it truly wasn't Shikamaru's fault no matter how grey he was about the situation so he decided to leave him with just a warning.

"Apologize to her and make sure it doesn't happen again, understand?"

No matter how aloof Kakashi looked Shikamaru could still feel the threatening aura so he steadily replied,

"Yes."

Simple answer. So that his voice won't break. In fear or nervousness. Troublesome.

"Good."

Kakashi smiled content with the answer and walked away with the orange book in his hand. Shikamaru sighed and was about to thank the god high above when Kakashi suddenly spoke loudly over his shoulders to him,

"And for the record, that's not the right way to get a girl. You can borrow my book for pointers if you like."

Kakashi continued walking chuckling amusingly after catching the affronted look on Shikamaru's face. That perverted man didn't really think he was making a move on Sakura, was he? And how did he even know about the incident? Someone must've told him or he had saw it all with his own eyes- or well, eye. He was too low on chakra he didn't pick up other presence around him back then.

It took a whole minute for the pineapple headed ninja to realize that his body was still damn tired. Not feeling the need to walk around the village asking for the way to the inn, he just plopped down onto the nearest patch of grass and closed his eyes willing himself to fall asleep. He would deal with the butterflies and nerves later. Right now, he needed his sleep badly. Something in his mind was bugging him though. It's not really macho to offend a girl, accidently or not, physically or not and not apologizing in the end. In fact it was rude and impudent. Heaving a sigh, he got back up and continued his search for the pink haired female.

Knowing her she would probably be in a patient's room healing or professionally giving instructions to whomever it was that it concerns. So that is why he found himself slowly and tiredly checking all the rooms in the clinic in search of the pink haired medic. He was about to pass a room when he felt a familiar chakra close by. He stopped and slid the door open. Sure enough there she was bandaging an old man.

Sakura lifted her head and suppressed the blood with her chakra from flowing to her face. She maintained her poker face and wrapped the conversation she was having with the old man before addressing him.

"Anything you need, Shikamaru?"

Her voice was smooth. She was good.

"Can we talk?"

His voice was languid. He was good.

"Urm...about what?"

She was beginning to crack. She was bad.

"That thing happened earlier."

He was feeling the awkwardness. He was bad.

"Oh."

When Sakura just stood there unmoving, he gathered up the courage and approached her so that he was a good few steps from her.

"I want to apologize. It shouldn't happen the way it happened and I hope this won't interfere with our mission."

Way to go Nara. You sound heartless.

"Don't worry about it! It was just an accident. Could happen to anybody."

"I suppose but I'm really sorry. I should've been more alert and careful. I hope you didn't think that I was taking advantage of you."

"Of course not, silly! I should've expected a reaction like that in the first place anyway."

"The chakra shot surprised me." He provided feeling slightly relieved seeing Sakura dismissing the accident as nothing.

Sakura chuckled and said, "Well, I did warn you."

"You did?" Shikamaru asked surprised.

Sakura nodded.

"Guess I was too knocked out to hear you."

"You were tired." She commented. "And still is." Sakura added when she saw his eyes blinked rapidly in an attempt to stay awake.

"I'm fine."

She didn't believe him so she shook her head. Although she was disappointed that he was risking his performance by depriving himself from sleep, she couldn't help but admire his idiosyncrasy. He constantly grumbles remarks about the opposite gender often offending the women around him. Despite the flaw, Shikamaru is generally courteous to women, doing them favours and avoiding fights with them. He feels that men, like him, should be the ones protecting them and not the other way around. He was a true male chauvinist in every sense of word. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing she couldn't exactly tell. It has its own pros and cons. Though she did remember Temari sighing dreamily about him and his 'way' and being a young woman she could relate. As a kunoichi they were treated just like all shinobi when it comes to the battlefield and when off duty, most would sometimes still be treated like one of the guys- perfectly understandable since kunoichi are hardly viewed as a noblewoman. It was nice to have a guy that truly appreciates them for who they are underneath the stony masks and hard trained body; a fragile flower.

She also remembered when Shikamaru had bought Ino a friendship bracelet (Ino had been heavily hinting that their team needs one for an entire week), the blonde female had jumped up and down brandishing proudly the metallic chain around her wrist to every girl she met. Sakura felt so jealous she forced Sai to buy the same thing for her. When Sai refused she merely told him it was what good friends do and it would strengthen their bond. An hour later she sported her own friendship bracelet though was crestfallen when she found out by the next day Sai had given the same bracelet to every Konoha citizen in order to 'strengthen' their 'bond'.

Just to stress the point of what kind of a man Shikamaru is, he really was one of a kind. He's that type who if given a flower would say how useless and a trouble to be given such a thing that really have no significance whatsoever in his ninja life but would at the same time place the flower in a pretty vase making sure he waters it every day and give it enough sunshine. Yeah, something like that, she thought. And if the fact that him coming to apologize to her personally and seriously is not a sign of a gentleman she didn't know what is. If it was Naruto he'd probably be bragging to Sai that he was the only guy ever lived to touch her womanly assets and later apologizing over a bowl of ramen, face stuffed with the food.

"Go to sleep, Shikamaru. Come, there's a place here."

Sakura said and grabbed his hand pulling him to an empty cot.

"Someone else might need it." He argued lazily.

"That someone is you. Now sleep."

Sakura pushed Shikamaru down ignoring his barely attempt at a protest. The minute his head rested on the hard pillow, she touched his forehead and eased him out of all of his nerves.

"Try not to think of anything, ok? Rest well."

He closed his eyes and disobeyed her. He fell asleep with the image of her smiling gently down at him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

* * *

_Long note. Brave yourself._

_I'm straying from the main story again. God, that's a big problem. Next chapter will be serious then I suppose. Teehee._

_I think I wrote an explanatory scene of Koukai trying to take a hold of the village. I learnt in History class that a government in this one country tried to take control of the country by grouping civilians by race and occupation so that unification would be hard to achieve and rebellion can be avoided when only a small group is at it. Should it happen all they have to do is shoot them down and enforce laws against them. So that's the concept I'm applying in this story. I have to remind you here that the council hold veto power so they can basically do anything they want. Most of the elders in the council don't want to do it but Koukai and his Root lackeys got a hold of their family and blackmail plans (the elders really have secrets they don't want people to know. Uchiha massacre big example.) So really they have no choice while some even like the idea of reigning Fire country under Koukai (coughUtataneandMitokadocough ) so basically they're all corrupted in one way or the other._

_The United Allies. I just made them up. LOL. So it's Suna, Konoha, Iwa, Kumo and Kiri. Just like the allies in the Fourth war. Kinda. They have a strong alliance. At first it was only Suna and Konoha but since their giving the Veto power to the council so they thought that United Allies is the only good thing that will balance them out. Just in case anything bad happens but still the council is preventing anything from going out from the village so it's really hard to alert the UA about it. And even if they are alerted it will take time to act and by the time they did something Konoha would probably be in Koukai's hands. Oh, and I'm leaving Ame out because that's Akatsuki's fort. They gotta have a place to call home too. _

_No, Konoha can't realy be that invicible to not encounter any political problem and Tsunade's no God so really things will happen. And they're not the only strong ones out there. There are other enemies stronger than them but because they're the main char they will win in the end. No worries. Muahahaha. _

_Yes, Team Gai is in Tea but not the original team. It's his new Genin team. They won't play a big role in this story at all but I mentioned them so that the whole Konoha lockdown will make sense in the future._

_Kakashi is a bit protective of Sakura because that's all he had ever been in the series. I mean seriously, he barely trains her and look out for her more than anything, and even when she did displayed any surprising skills of hers all he would be is proud or surprised or just neutral like he'd seen it so many times. So to make up for that I chose to make him a father figure to Sakura, a redeeming quality I guess._

_So what do you think?_

_Tell me in your reviews! Please be nice, I'm sensitive (o_o)_

**K**


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